Two people were injured after a small plane crashed into a field and caught fire near Highway 101 in Goleta Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 29, 2025.SCREENSHOT VIA VIDEO COURTESY OF STEVE EPSTEIN
Two people were critically injured Wednesday afternoon when a small plane crashed and burned near Highway 101 in Goleta, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
The aircraft, reportedly a single-engine Cirrus SR22, went down at about 2:15 p.m. on the Bishop Ranch, north of the freeway between Glen Annie Road and Los Carneros Road.
The four-seat plane caught fire after the crash, and was putting up a large column of black smoke when emergency personnel arrived on the scene.
Two people — a 29-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman — were on board the aircraft, according to fire Capt. Scott Safechuck.
Two people were injured after a small plane crashed into a field and caught fire near Highway 101 in Goleta Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 29, 2025. Santa Barbara County Fire Department photo
Their names and details on their conditions were not available.
The crash sparked a small vegetation fire in the area, which firefighters quickly contained, according to authorities.
The California Highway Patrol briefly closed one northbound Highway 101 lane in the area of the crash, and the Los Carneros Road offramp, causing a traffic back-up.
Two people were injured after a small plane crashed into a field and caught fire near Highway 101 in Goleta Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 29, 2025. Courtesy photo
The aircraft appeared to be doing a touch-and-go on one of the Santa Barbara Airport‘s shorter north-south runways shortly before the crash, according to FlightRadar24.
The crash is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Personnel from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and the CHP also responded to the incident.
