May 21 (UPI) -- A small plane that was allegedly traveling to Hawaii crashed off the coast of California, killing two people.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement on Twitter on Saturday that the agency was investigating a crash of a Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter in the Pacific Ocean, about 40 miles off the coast of Half Moon Bay.
Flight data reported by The Mercury News shows that the plane departed from Santa Rosa-Sonoma County airport around 8 a.m. and flew southwest for two hours toward Honolulu before turning as the pilot declared a mayday.
It was not immediately clear if the plane intended to reach Honolulu, located more than 2,393 miles from the airport.
Technical specifications for the Twin Otter show that it has a max flight range of about 1,127 miles, less than half the distance to Hawaii, if the plane had long-range tankage.
The U.S. Coast Guard located the plane submerged about 40 miles from San Francisco with both the pilot and co-pilot dead, The Mercury News reported. There were no passengers onboard.
