Plane goes down near El Capitan Ranch

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A two-seater plane made an emergency crash landing on a beach just east of El Capitan Ranch yesterday evening, authorities said, leaving the pilot injured and the passenger shaken, but unhurt.
Santa Barbara Airport’s control tower received a distress signal from the pilot at 7:46 p.m., telling them he didn’t believe the plane would make it to the airport, Santa Barbara County Fire Department Engineer Russ Sechler said.

A second aircraft in the area circled the crash site until emergency crews arrived, Sechler said. A fire helicopter, first on the scene, lowered a medic who helped the pilot and passenger escape the wreckage, authorities said.
Keith Collum, a former Santa Barbara County fire spokesman who was on the scene, said the plane initially tried to land on the bluff, but a ravine forced the pilot to ditch it in the rocky shoreline, leaving it tilted on its side and leaking fuel.
Crews loaded the pilot onto a backboard and carried him 400 yards down the beach to a waiting ambulance, authorities said, adding that he sustained only moderate injuries. Authorities drove the passenger, who seemed to be unhurt and declined treatment, to the airport.
Sechler said he had unconfirmed reports that the plane had just taken off from the airport and may have turned back due to engine trouble. Waves had already started washing up against the downed aircraft as the tide moved in, and crews were forced to leave the area, fire officials said.
Sechler said the plane will likely remain where it is, nosing the surf, until an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board is complete.