A Kenmore Air float plane went down in Washington's San Juan Islands on Thursday with 11 people on board, in a crash that left several of them hurt but, remarkably, sent everyone scrambling to safety before the aircraft was lost. What began as a routine flight to the islands ended with an emergency landing on the water and a frantic escape as the plane came to rest against the shoreline.
The crash happened just before 5:30 in the afternoon in Shallow Bay, off Sucia Island, which sits north of Orcas Island in the San Juans. It was there, in the calm-looking waters of the bay, that the float plane came down, turning a quiet corner of the island chain into the scene of a sudden emergency response involving the county sheriff and other officials.
Video recorded by a witness, Jonathan Scott, captured the moment the plane came down. According to that footage, the aircraft did not plunge into the water in a rapid descent but instead made an emergency landing on the surface before colliding with rocks along the shore. That distinction, a controlled touchdown rather than a high-speed impact, appears to have given those on board a chance to get clear.
Witnesses and officials say all 11 people, 10 passengers and the pilot, were able to get out of the plane before it later went up in flames. The fact that everyone escaped the aircraft before the fire took hold stands out as the central detail of the crash, even as the extent of the injuries made clear how serious the ordeal had been for those inside.
The San Juan County Sheriff's Office described injuries ranging from head injuries to broken bones and lacerations. Two of the injured were taken to a hospital in Bellingham, while two others were taken to Orcas Island for treatment. The sheriff's office said one of those hurt is in critical condition, underscoring that while all aboard survived the initial crash, not everyone walked away unscathed.
Officials said the plane had taken off from Lake Union and was en route to Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor, popular destinations in the San Juans served by float planes flying out of Seattle. That routine island-hopping route, a common way for travelers to reach the archipelago, was cut short by the emergency that brought the aircraft down short of its destination.
The exact cause of the crash and the reason for the emergency landing have not been released, and the FAA is investigating. The crash unfolded amid rough weather in the region: a person in the San Juans described thunder and lightning around 4:00 in the afternoon in Friday Harbor, with wind and rain picking up before easing off later in the evening. Whether that weather played a role remains among the questions investigators will now work to answer.