Airplane Wreckage Recovered Off Goleta Coast

By edhat staff

Search and recovery teams found the wreckage of the single-engine airplane that crashed off the shore of Goleta Beach on Sunday morning.

After 7:00 a.m., a Cessna 182 Skylane piloted by 61-year-old Deborah Nicholson from the Lake Tahoe area, crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from the Santa Barbara Airport.

On Thursday, the small plane was recovered with Nicholson’s body inside. She was en route to Truckee, CA near Lake Tahoe.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s dive team, Santa Barbara County Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Forest Service aided in search and recovery efforts since Sunday.

The Los Angeles Dive Team located the wreckage in the depths of 180 to 200 feet of water. It was then transported to the Goleta Pier where the plane was loaded onto a flatbed truck where it will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

According to the Tahoe Daily Tribune, Nicholson was an experienced pilot who practiced estate law in Tahoe City for over 30 years.

“Nicholson was an active community member, and was just appointed to serve on the Airport Community Advisory Team Sept. 23, four days before her plane went down,” reports the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

Authorities have not yet given any indication of what might have caused the plane to crash. The cause of the crash is under investigation by the NTSB.

Divers are in the water off campus point today as we begin recovery efforts for the pilot and plane that went down Sunday. Assisting agencies include @SEBLASD @USCG National Parks, @SBCFireInfo and @AMRSB pic.twitter.com/ryDTVLe69m

— PIO Raquel Zick (@SBSOPIO) October 1, 2020