A Solvang man was killed in a small plane crash in Santa Barbara County.
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, the family of pilot Pierre Josefsohn reported at about 8 p.m. Wednesday that he had not returned to the Santa Ynez Airport after what was supposed to be a short flight around the area earlier in the afternoon.
A tracking system reportedly indicated that his 2006 Aviat fixed-wing, single-engine plane was in the Figueroa Mountain Rd. Area, approximately two miles south of Ranger Peak.
A Santa Barbara County Sheriff/Fire helicopter searched the area but was unable to locate the plane because of dark and foggy conditions Wednesday night.
The Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team was called in to begin searching at daybreak Thursday.
Sheriff’s officials say they located the plane’s wreckage at about 7:30 a.m. on the side of a steep hill known as Goat Rock and were able to recover Josefsohn’s body.
Sheriff’s officials say Josefsohn, 68, was an experienced pilot and it’s unknown at this time what caused the crash.
The sheriff’s office and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
