2nd body recovered at scene of single-engine plane crash in Santa Barbara County

Authorities have found a second body at the site of a plane crash in Santa Barbara County, sheriff’s officials announced Friday afternoon.

Crews had spent most of the day working to remove the pilot of a small private plane who was killed when the plane apparently lost power and plummeted to the ground north of Ojai, near Lake Jameson, they said. The pilot reported the emergency before 10 p.m. Thursday night.

Despite initially only reporting one person aboard the aircraft, a second body was found Friday afternoon.

Photos show the plane upside down on a steep hillside covered in brush.

The pilot was flying the single-engine Cessna 182 and reported a loss of engine power about 18 miles northeast of Santa Barbara about 9:45 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said. The plane was flying from Lompoc to McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, according to the FAA.

Santa Barbara County’s emergency communication center received a report of engine trouble about 10 p.m., the sheriff’s office said. Searchers from air and sea began looking for the plane and found it in a remote area near Don Victor Trail about 4:30 a.m.

The two victims have not been identified pending notification of next of kin. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

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