Woman's body found after plane crashes off Half Moon Bay coast

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - A woman's body was found in the ocean after a plane crashed near Half Moon Bay, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

Sgt. Philip Hallworth on Monday said commercial fisherman found the body, which crews believe is linked to the plane that went down Sunday evening near Moss Beach.

Officials have not officially released the victims' names, but a KTVU source identified one of the victims as Lochie Ferrier of Oakland.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there was another person on board. Details on the second person have yet to be released.

Earlier on Monday, the US Coast Guard suspended its search for the plane, or any survivors. 

"It's never easy to make the decision to suspend search efforts, and our deepest sympathies go out to the families involved in this incident," Ian McGoohan, operations unit controller at the Sector San Francisco Command Center, said in a statement. 

Coast Guard crews received a call from a San Mateo County dispatcher on Sunday about 7:20 p.m. that a two-propellor plane had gone missing south of Moss Beach.

An Air Station San Francisco MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and a Station Golden Gate boat crew was launched to assist with search efforts around the area of the downed aircraft, searching a total of approximately 28 square miles during a period of 5.7 hours, the Coast Guard said.

Witnesses told investigators that they saw a plane flying erratically in the airspace off the coast and then, all of a sudden, they didn't see it anymore.

The witnesses were eating dinner nearby when they heard the engine sputter.

"They (witnesses) kept eyes on the plane until they lost sight of it just over the horizon," said Hallworth."That prompted a search and rescue by the sheriff's office and Coast Guard."

The two-propeller plane took off from the East Bay. It's unclear where it was headed. 

Crews said they have since found pieces of the plane.