Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard said it has called off the search for nine people still missing after their floatplane crashed Sunday in Mutiny Bay.
The search was suspended at noon Monday, the Coast Guard announced in a statement on Twitter.
"It is always difficult when it comes time to make a decision to stop searching," Capt. Daniel Broadhurst, incident management branch chief of the 13th Coast Guard District, said Monday in a statement.
The Coast Guard had launched the search and rescue mission Sunday at about 3:10 p.m. after receiving a report that a floatplane with nine adults and one child aboard crashed into Puget Sound's Mutiny Bay near Seattle.
Authorities said one body was immediately recovered, and that the search operation would continue Sunday and Monday for the remaining nine missing individuals.
The plane was identified as a DHC-3 Turbine Otter.
The operation was called off mid-Monday after the Coast Guard said it conducted 26 sorties, searching 1,283 nautical miles of track line covering an area of approximately 2,100 square nautical miles.
"All next of kin have been notified of this decision," the Coast Guard said. "Our hearts go out to the families, loved ones and friends of those who remain missing and the deceased."
