United States officials are responding to a reported plane crash in Washington State just across from Greater Victoria.
The U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest division said around 1 p.m. on Friday (June 7) that the incident happened between Orcas Island and Jones Island – the latter being almost 20 kilometres east of Sidney.
Coast guard crews from stations in Bellingham and Port Angeles, along with the San Juan County Sheriff's office, are responding with search and rescue efforts.
The first report about the incident came in around 11:40 a.m., according to the sheriff's office The county's dispatch centre was told an older model of plane was flying southward before it went into the water near the north end of Jones Island and sunk, San Juan County Sheriff Eric Peter said in a statement posted on the police agency's Facebook page.
"There is no information at the time if there were any other people on the plane other than the pilot," Peter said.
Editor's note: An original version referred to Johns Island, which is also near the crash site. The U.S. coast guard originally said the incident occurred near Jones Island before it clarified that it was actually near Johns Island. The agency then issued another correction saying the incident did occur near Jones Island.