Plane goes down in Elliott Bay, Seattle fire rescues pilot with minor injuries

The FAA has begun an investigation into what caused a small seaplane to crash into Elliott Bay Thursday afternoon.

The 42-year-old pilot was able to escape the wreck after his plane went down in the water near Seattle’s Edgewater Hotel.

The Seattle Fire Department first tweeted about the crash around 6:30 p.m. The plane went down into the water off of the 2800 block of Alaskan Way.

“We saw the plane come in, it was a small glider, kind of low and slow, and as it was approaching the water, that’s when we lost sight of it,” said witness Karla Saur told KIRO 7. “The Coast Guard was there within maybe 30 seconds.”

They sent a rescue boat out to pick up the pilot, who picked the man up with only minor injuries. Authorities believe the pilot was the only one on board.

“It was pretty graceful he came down it seemed like he was just trying to get as close as he could to the fire station down there, so it was really graceful planned out, trying to get rescued,” witness DJ Zevenbergen told KIRO 7.

Medics transported the man to Harborview Medical Center, where his injuries will be evaluated further.

It’s believed the plane sank to the bottom of the bay, about 75 feet below the surface, and so the fire department marked the spot with a buoy.

Seattle Fire is working with the FAA, the U.S. Coastguard, and the EPA on the recovery of the plane and the investigation into the cause of that crash.

KIRO 7 contributed to this report