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A seaplane crashed and later caught fire while making an emergency landing on the shoreline of Sucia Island near the B.C.-Washington border on Thursday evening, according to U.S. officials, drawing emergency teams from both countries.
By the time first responders arrived, several recreational boaters who saw the Kenmore Air plane go down had rescued the plane’s pilot and 10 passengers from the wreckage, according to Nathan Butler, a member of the command staff for San Juan Island EMS.
“Before we ever got to the scene, they got all of the patients on their boats, they tied [three boats] together … and they had blankets and used first aid to bandage people’s head injuries,” he said.
He added that two of the boaters were an off-duty medic and trauma nurse.
“They honestly did an amazing job and made that situation much better than it would have been…. They truly were heroes last night.”
Everyone on the plane was transported to nearby hospitals by boat and air lift, Butler said.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s office posted on Facebook that passengers’ injuries ranged from broken bones and lacerations to head injuries. The post said one patient was in critical condition, but no deaths had been reported.
In a statement, Kenmore Air said the de Havilland DHC-3 Otter aircraft departed from Lake Union, Seattle, before it was “involved in an accident” at about 5:15 p.m. PT Thursday.
“We are grateful that everyone aboard has been accounted for, and our immediate focus is ensuring our passengers and pilot receive the care and support they need,” said CEO David Gudgel in the statement.
The company cancelled all scheduled flights for Friday, and said it would not speculate on the cause of the accident.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the cause of the emergency landing and fire are under investigation.
The Canadian Coast Guard ship Siyay and B.C. Air Ambulance, operated by B.C. Emergency Health Services, responded to the incident, in addition to a number of U.S. Coast Guard and Washington state agencies, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
BCEHS said three air ambulances and critical care crew were “staged but later stood down as they were not required in the response.”
Investigation still underway
Mike Hairston, undersheriff for the San Juan County Sheriff’s office, said within about 30 minutes of receiving reports of the crash, he and other dispatch crew from the command team on Orcas Island had deployed American and Canadian emergency teams to the scene.
He said he was relieved everyone on board the plane had survived.
“I mean, anytime we have a plane go down, there’s always that chance — plus this happened on a remote island that is only accessible by a helicopter or a boat.”
On Friday morning, he and staff from the Department of Fish and Wildlife headed to the crash site to review the scene and take photos of the plane on the shoreline at low tide.
