Search Ongoing for Six Missing After Small Plane Crashes Off San Diego Coast

Plane Crash A twin engine, Cessna 414 (#N414BA) carrying 6 people has crashed into the ocean off Point Loma

just after taking off from the San Diego airport around 12:30 PST the plane was flying to Phoenix AZ

A major search operation was underway Sunday night after a small twin-engine plane crashed into the ocean off the coast of San Diego, leaving six people missing. The crash occurred around 12:45 p.m. approximately three miles west of Point Loma.

The aircraft, identified as a Cessna 414, went down in an area where the ocean depth reaches approximately 200 feet. A debris field was located shortly after the incident, but no survivors or bodies had been recovered as of late Sunday night.

The flight tracker

The U.S. Coast Guard is leading the search and recovery effort, joined by multiple agencies including air and marine units from Customs & Border Protection, San Diego Harbor Police boat crews, and San Diego Lifeguards. The coordinated search spanned both the sea and air throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

By 11:30 p.m., the six people believed to have been on board remained missing. The Coast Guard Cutter Sea Otter remained on-site overnight, with additional helicopter crews set to resume the search at first light Monday morning.

Tyson Wislofsky, a local resident who was surfing near Point Loma, reported witnessing the crash.

"I saw him come down at an angle. He wasn't flying straight to the ground," Wislofsky said. "The next time he came out of the clouds, he went straight into the water. Full throttle."

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. Authorities have not yet released the identities of those missing.