MOREHEAD CITY, NORTH CAROLINA (AP) – A small plane carrying eight people crashed into the ocean off North Carolina’s Outer Banks and left behind multiple debris fields where crews searched for the missing passengers, the Coast Guard said.
One body has so far been recovered and identified, Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck told reporters on Monday afternoon.
He declined to release that person’s name or details about the other people who were on board, including their ages, “out of respect for the families”.
“We have no indication that anyone survived the crash,” the sheriff said. Search crews are still looking for the main body of the plane but have identified three debris fields, which had been moving farther off shore into the Atlantic Ocean, Buck said.
United States (US) Coast Guard Captain Matthew J Baer told reporters that multiple vessels from various agencies are continuing the search. In a tweet on Monday night, the Coast Guard said a cutter would remain on the scene overnight.
“We’ve got an all-hands-on-deck event going on here,” Baer said. “And we want the citizens of Carteret County and eastern North Carolina to know that your Coast Guard is out there doing our absolute best alongside our partners.”
