US Coast Guard, partners respond to deadly plane crash off California coast

The US Coast Guard and other partner agencies have deployed personnel and assets in response to an incident wherein an aircraft crashed off the coast of California over the weekend.

At 22:55 local time on Saturday, July 26, watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Monterey received a relay from Monterey County detailing that a twin-engined aircraft with three people on board had crashed approximately 200 to 300 yards (180 to 270 metres) off of Point Pinos.

Station Monterey launched a response boat-small crew, which arrived on scene approximately 15 minutes after notification. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector San Francisco also coordinated the launch of an Air Station San Francisco MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew.

All three people who were on the aircraft were later found unresponsive by the crew of a Monterey Fire Department response boat on the morning of Sunday, July 27. Tragically, all three individuals were later pronounced deceased.

The various assets, which also included drones and a response boat from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, searched for a combined 13 hours, with 346 miles (557 kilometres) of trackline searched over a search area of approximately 100 square miles (260 square kilometres).