Body recovered after float plane crash identified
SEATTLE (AP) — A body recovered near the site of a floatplane crash in the waters of Washington state’s Puget Sound has been identified as Gabby Hanna, a 29-year-old Seattle attorney.
The Island County Coroner’s Office confirmed Thursday that the recovered body was Hanna and that her family was notified on Wednesday, The Seattle Times reported.
Hanna was one of 10 people on the Sunday flight from Friday Harbor to Renton, which crashed near Whidbey Island. Her body was found shortly after the crash by witnesses who were searching for survivors. No other bodies have been recovered and all are presumed dead.
Her parents described Hanna as “fierce,” and noted her love for travel and cooking.
Her father, Dave von Beck, said Thursday that the family had received a “massive outpouring of love and support from all the people who she touched in her far too short life.”
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday continued to search the area where witnesses reported the crash, using sonar in an attempt to locate the wreckage.
Details, including the cause of the crash, cannot be determined until more of the wreckage is found, according to NTSB.
Only small pieces of debris have been found so far, partly because of the current and the depth of water in the area. The bulk of the plane is still missing, somewhere in or near the estimated 150- to 200-feet (46- to 61-meter) deep shipping channel where it crashed.
