6 missing at sea after small plane crashes off San Diego

A search was underway Sunday night for six missing people after a small plane crashed in the ocean off of San Diego that afternoon, authorities said.

The U.S. Coast Guard received a report at 12:45 p.m. that a twin-engine Cessna 414 had crashed around three miles west of Point Loma. A debris field was located off of the coast in an area where the water was estimated to be 200 feet deep, according to the Coast Guard.

Multiple agencies worked together to scour the area for any survivors Sunday afternoon and evening. This included air and marine Coast Guard crews, air and marine Customs & Border Protection crews, San Diego Harbor Police boat crews and San Diego Lifeguard crews.

No one had been found as of 11:30 p.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Graves told The Times. The Coast Guard Cutter Sea Otter crew will remain on scene overnight to continue the search, and helicopter crews were set to rejoin the effort at first light, he said.

Local resident Tyson Wislofsky witnessed the crash while surfing near Point Loma on Sunday afternoon.

“I saw him come down at angle. He wasn’t flying straight to the ground,” Wislofsky told NBC4 News. “The next time he came out of the clouds, he went straight into the water. Full throttle.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. Information on the the identity of those missing was not immediately available.