The Federal Aviation Administration was on scene Tuesday investigating the single-engine plane crash into the Goleta Slough, and had the aircraft craft moved to a Santa Barbara Airport hangar.
At 5:41 p.m. Monday, the Beechcraft Bonanza crash-landed south of the main runway after a complete power failure during takeoff, according to airport officials.
The pilot had about 20 gallons of fuel and lost power 300 feet into the air, said Tracy Lincoln, airport operations manager.
After radioing the tower and getting approval to try and return to the taxiway, the pilot said he wasn’t able to make it.
He crash-landed and contacted the tower again to say he was OK, Lincoln said.
The pilot was later transported to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with complaints of lower back pain.
“We’re very, very pleased, as was he, that he was able to walk away from it,” Lincoln said.
The pilot asked the airport not to release his name, but Lincoln said the man owns the aircraft and is based out of Santa Barbara.
FAA records indicate the crashed plane is registered to Donald D. Johnson of Minden, Nevada.
Responders located the plane quickly and determined there were no fluid leaks into the slough.
The incident was reported to the National Transportation Safety Board, and all runways were reopened shortly after the crash.
The plane landed on a berm between Tecolote Creek and a tidal basin, airport planner Andrew Bermond said.
“He pretty much nailed the only spot where it’s dry and hitting brush,” he said.
For experienced pilots, a light crash like this is a hard landing, he added.
(Culled from noozhawk.com)
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