Small plane carrying six crashes off California coast

A small plane with six people aboard crashed into the ocean about 3 miles off Sunset Cliffs Sunday afternoon, prompting a search involving several agencies.

The Coast Guard received the report at 12:50 p.m. and began searching the debris field with several assets, including a Jayhawk helicopter, a C-27 airplane, the Cutter Sea Otter and two smaller boats, said Petty Officer Charlie Valor.

None of the people believed to be on board had been found by early evening as the search continued, Coast Guard officials said.

The plane was a Cessna 414, which is a pressurized, twin-engine aircraft designed to carry six to eight passengers, according to officials.

San Diego lifeguards initially assisted with the search, then were called off after it became clear the plane went down in water that is probably 200 feet deep or more, a spokesperson said.

“The U.S. Coast Guard alerted San Diego fire department lifeguards after receiving reports from vessels of a large splash approximately three miles off Sunset Cliffs,” said Candace Hadley, a spokesperson for San Diego Fire-Rescue.

“Lifeguards responded with several rescue vessels (boats and some personal watercraft), who located an oil sheen and some debris on the water,” Hadley said.

She said lifeguards requested additional support from the Coast Guard because of the depth of the water being searched. The Coast Guard has since assumed responsibility for search, rescue and recovery operations.

“Initial debris recovered by lifeguards have been turned over to Coast Guard authorities. Our Triton vessel is currently on standby in case there is any additional need for assistance,” she said.

The high-performance Triton is equipped with hoses and can be used to fight fires.

This is the second private plane to crash in the San Diego area in the past 2 1/2 weeks. On May 22, a Cessna 550 Citation II jet crashed into a Murphy Canyon neighborhood, damaging a four-plex in the military housing area and setting 20 vehicles on fire.

Six people on board the jet — the pilot and five passengers — were killed in the crash. Miraculously, only a few people suffered minor injuries on the ground.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the cause of that crash. Officials noted the plane was heading to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in Kearny Mesa on a foggy evening when the plane clipped a transmission line about 120 feet in the air.

In that incident, the plane had departed from Teterboro, N.J., then stopped in Wichita, Kan., before heading on to San Diego.

With Sunday’s crash, it was not immediately clear where the plane had taken off from or its intended destination.