Search Suspended After Small Plane Crashes Near Half Moon Bay: U.S. Coast Guard

HALF MOON BAY, CA — The search for possible survivors of a downed aircraft near Half Moon Bay was suspended on Monday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The agency's San Francisco command center personnel received a report from San Mateo County Dispatch personnel Sunday evening at around 7:20 p.m. that an aircraft had gone missing south of Moss Beach, according to the agency.

An Air Station San Francisco MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and a Station Golden Gate boat crew were launched to help with search efforts around the area of the downed aircraft, searching a total of around 28 square miles over five hours, the release said.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter had been searching the area east of the Moss Beach Distillery on Sunday night, ABC 7 reported.

People at the distillery heard the sound of the engine sputtering and saw the plane, which took off from East Bay, go down just before 7:15 p.m., Fox 2 reported.

Authorities have not said what kind of plane it was or if they know how many people were on board, but witnesses described it as a two-propellor plane, ABC reported.

Ian McGoohan, operations unit controller at the Sector San Francisco Command Center, said, "It's never easy to make the decision to suspend search efforts, and our deepest sympathies go out to the families involved in this incident.

"We are truly grateful for the efforts of our partners assisting in search efforts," he added.

In addition to the Coast Guard, a total of four agencies, including the San Mateo fire and police departments, as well as the California Highway Patrol Helicopter aircrew helped in the search efforts.