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Small plane goes down in ocean off Cape May

A search is under way for survivors. The plane can carry four people.

The plane went into the water off the South Cape May Meadows bird sanctuary.
The plane went into the water off the South Cape May Meadows bird sanctuary.Read moreGoogle Maps (custom credit)

A small plane went down in the ocean off Cape May on Wednesday morning, officials said. By early evening, an hours-long rescue effort to find survivors had become a recovery operation.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Andy Kendrick said the plane went down off the South Cape May Meadows bird sanctuary at 11:23 a.m.

Officials said one person was known to be on board the aircraft when it departed Trenton-Robbinsville Airport in Robbinsville about 8 a.m.

Kendrick said the plane was a four-seat Mooney general aviation craft with four seats.

6ABC broadcast a viewer-submitted video showing a single engine plane skimming above the water before it apparently crashed.

Kendrick said at one point two Coast Guard boats and a helicopter as well as Cape May area fire department vessels and a tow boat searched the waters for survivors.