Four people survived the crash of a chartered seaplane operated by Kenmore Air in the waters off Washington State Friday. The de Havilland Beaver crashed near its destination, Lopez Island, part of the San Juan Islands, just before 9 a.m. according to news reports. The crew members on a fishing boat rescued all four from the water as the Coast Guard was notified. Three men and a women were treated for injuries and hypothermia. The Coast Guard said in a statement that visibility in the area was about one-quarter mile at the time, and it’s unknown if the aircraft, which sank quickly, will be salvaged from the water, which the Seattle Times reported is nine feet deep.
The aircraft departed Lake Union in Seattle and was scheduled to stop at Lopez Island, then fly to a harbor at San Juan Island, according to the Times report. Kenmore’s chief pilot told the newspaper that flight operations are continuing after the accident. “The airplane simply could have tipped over,” he said. “They all had life jackets on in the aircraft. If there was an impact, it wasn’t so great that they could not get life jackets on and get outside the aircraft.”
