2 Santa Ynez Men Are Presumed Dead After Plane Crash Near El Capitan Beach
Two Santa Ynez men were presumed dead Saturday after their small plane crashed near El Capitan State Beach, the Coast Guard said.
The Santa Barbara Airport control tower called the Coast Guard shortly after 11 a.m. Friday, saying a Piper PA-32-R had disappeared from the radar.
Coast Guard Chief Dan Larson at Long Beach headquarters said the plane dropped into the ocean about a mile west of El Capitan.
The sea floor in that area drops 132 feet, too deep for local rescue divers. Sheriff’s deputies contacted the National Transportation Safety Board for help in salvaging the wreckage.
“Two eyewitnesses said they heard the plane’s engine sputter overhead in patchy fog, then a loud bang as it struck the water,” Coast Guard Lt. Tim Cotchay said. “The aircraft tumbled end over end, coming to rest with its tail sticking up before it sank.”
Names of the victims were being withheld Saturday pending notification of relatives, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.
The plane was en route from Santa Ynez Valley Airport to Santa Barbara.
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