SEABECK — Two hours after the first report was made that a small plane crashed into Hood Canal near Seabeck on Jan. 26, emergency responders had not been able to locate an airplane or debris in the water.

But while several agencies involved in the search were hopeful, they were not presumptuous.

“At 12:51 p.m., CenCom received a report from more than one caller that a small plane went into the water, or a small plane with debris went into the water,” said Ileana LiMarzi, public information officer for Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue, at the command post established in the parking lot of Evergreen Lutheran Church on Seabeck-Holly Road and Northwest Holly Road.

“We launched a boat at Miami Beach and at 1:40 p.m. a Coast Guard helicopter was searching from the air and nothing was found. Did a plane go down into the water, or did it go into the woods? We’re doing our best to cover the area.”

LiMarzi said at 2 p.m. that, in addition to the Coast Guard helicopter and CKF&R boat, two fire engines and a medic unit went to the area. Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Ken Dickinson said the sheriff’s office expected to launch one of its boats from a launch at a private residence on Old Holly Hill Road.

A search was being conducted from Tekiu Point to Frenchman’s Cove, LiMarzi said.

“We have reports of a plane that went down into the water but we have been in the area for quite some time now, so we don’t know if one has gone down or not,” Dickinson said, adding that “so far no one has found any debris or oil or anything.”

Initial calls to 911 reported a small, stunt-style, red and white airplane twirling in the air as it dove down toward the water.