Kenmore Air Seaplane Crashes During Emergency Landing In Washington

A seaplane belonging to Kenmore Air crashed yesterday evening while attempting to make an emergency landing. Fortunately all 11 people onboard managed to get off the aircraft, though one is reportedly in critical condition. It’s rather unusual to see a seaplane accident like this, so it’ll be interesting to see what an investigation reveals. Kenmore Air plane with 11 people onboard crashes into coastLet’s see what an investigation into this accident revealsBottom line Kenmore Air plane with 11 people onboard crashes into coast Kenmore Air is a Washington-based airline that operates a fleet of nearly 30 turboprop aircraft, with some being seaplanes. The carrier operates scheduled, charter, and scenic flights, and has been around for 80 years, and is known for being highly reliable, with a great safety record. Unfortunately at around 5:15PM on Thursday, July 23, 2026, one of the carrier’s de Havilland DHC-3 Otter aircraft was involved in a major accident. Specifically, flight number 140 was operated by a 66-year-old plane with the registration code N709KA. It had departed from Seattle’s Lake Union (LKE), and was scheduled to operate the 79-mile flight to Eastbound (ESD). Unfortunately it was involved in an accident in Shallow Bay, near Sucia Island, 49 minutes after takeoff. The pilot was reportedly attempting an emergency landing, and while the plane initially made contact with water, it ended up hitting rocks along the coastline. Below is the full path for the flight. Path flown by the Kenmore Air plane that crashed Below is a zoomed in look, which shows you how the plane flew out past Eastsound, only to turn around, and then clearly attempt some sort of an emergency landing. Path flown by the Kenmore Air plane that crashed There were 11 people onboard, including 10 passengers and one pilot. Emergency responders immediately came to the scene, and all 11 people were transported to hospitals and/or medical centers, with one reportedly being in critical condition. I hope that person makes a full recovery. Weather conditions at the time of the accident weren’t great, with gusts of up to 20 miles per hour, and rain moving into the area. Of course that doesn’t explain the accident, though. There’s video footage of the accident happening. Then there’s also video footage of passengers evacuating the plane, and then the plane later catching fire. Thank goodness everyone got out quickly, and moved away from the aircraft. A Kenmore Air seaplane carrying 11 people crashed into the water near Washington’s Sucia Island after making an emergency landing and catching fire. Everyone survived and was rescued, while four people suffered serious injuries. Authorities are investigating the cause of the… pic.twitter.com/Ngy1aN66NU— Interesting Engineering (@IntEngineering) July 24, 2026 Let’s see what an investigation into this accident reveals Here’s what Kenmore Air CEO David Gudgel has had to say about this accident: “This evening one of our aircraft was involved in an accident near Sucia Island. We are grateful that everyone aboard has been accounted for, and our immediate focus is ensuring our passengers and pilot receive the care and support they need. We extend our sincere thanks to the United States Coast Guard, local emergency responders, and everyone assisting in the response. Kenmore Air is fully cooperating with the investigating authorities, and we will continue providing verified information as it becomes available.” As of now, we have absolutely no clue as to what caused this crash, and how it happened. In theory, seaplanes of course have a major advantage when it comes to performing an emergency landing over water. If an emergency landing was being attempted, I imagine that the goal was to stay clear of land, for obvious reasons. But yeah, everything beyond the above video is a mystery as of now. This almost seems like really bad luck in terms of the location, given the amount of water around the crash site. Bottom line A Kenmore Air de Havilland DHC-3 Otter operating a flight in Washington crashed close to its destination, while reportedly attempting an emergency landing. Given that this was a seaplane, you’d think making an emergency landing would be relatively straightforward, especially since the aircraft wasn’t just falling out of the sky, or anything like that. But clearly something went very wrong. Fortunately everyone onboard was rescued, and hopefully the person in critical condition makes a full recovery. What do you make of this Kenmore Air crash?