Shawn Knight grew his love of flying to include paragliding.
Paragliding accident claims life of adventurer
A paragliding accident Wednesday, June 15, on Pine Mountain, north of Ojai, claimed the life of a Santa Barbara County broadcaster.
Shawn Knight, 57, of Solvang, was the owner of Knight Broadcasting, which operates three radio stations — KSYV 96.7 FM, KRAZ 105.9 FM and KUHL 1440 AM.
At approximately 4:30 p.m., the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office received a call stating a paraglider had crashed in the Pine Mountain Wilderness Area, north of Highway 33, officials said.
Deputies from the sheriff’s Lockwood Valley station and Ventura County Copter 8 responded to search for the victim, according to VCSO Sgt. Jason Karol.
The helicopter located Knight approximately 300 yards from the ridgetop, between Pine Mountain Campground and Reyes Peak Campground, according to radio traffic from the Ventura County Fire Department.
Karol said medical treatment was provided, including CPR, but the flight paramedic pronounced Knight deceased.
Members of the Upper Ojai Search and Rescue team assisted with recovery, said Karol, who told the Ojai Valley News this week that he had no new information on the investigation into what happened.
A native of Santa Barbara, though friends say he was born in Oxnard, Knight moved to the Santa Ynez Valley when he was a boy, graduating from Santa Ynez Valley Union High School.
It was in high school that Knight began his career in radio broadcasting, at KSYV, a station he purchased in 2001.
After buying the station, he founded Knight Broadcasting, with the two FM stations originating in the Santa Ynez Valley and talk station KUHL based out of Santa Maria.
“It was through Shawn’s leadership that KUHL and sister stations Krazy Country and Mix 96.7 have been successful radio stations over the years,” wrote KUHL news director Ben Heighes on Facebook. “He stressed the importance of bringing local radio to the airwaves.”
Along with Knight Broadcasting, Knight owned Cloud 9 Advertising, which uses a plane to tow banners.
In a 2017 newspaper article, Knight said he wanted to be a pilot and began his career in broadcasting to pay for his love of flying.
One of his best friends, James Lawson, told the Ojai Valley News their friendship goes back about 12 years.
They first met at the Santa Ynez Airport when Knight owned the glider-ride towing business, Santa Barbara Soaring. “He and I bonded very quickly and were pretty much like brothers,” said Lawson, who owns Sky’s the Limit Ballooning Adventures in Los Olivos.
Knight served on the board of the Santa Ynez Airport, was active in Boy Scouts with his two sons, Carson and Cameron, served on school district boards and with the Santa Barbara Red Cross, and was a member of the Solvang Rotary Club.
“He gave a lot of time to people if they needed help and he never asked for anything in return,” Lawson said.
Knight and Lawson made many trips to the mountains together. “He loved going to the Sierras and always wanted to see the first snow every year in Yosemite,” he said, adding Knight wanted to retire in Colorado someday.
Photo by James Lawson
Shawn Knight with his electric skateboard in Yosemite National Park earlier this year.
An avid snowboarder, skier, mountain biker and hiker, another of Knight’s passions was electric skateboarding, according to his wife, Sandra.
And he continued to be driven by his flying habit, according to Lawson. “He loved the wind. He always challenged the wind,” he said.
A licensed pilot, Knight flew planes (including the Cessna 180 he owned), gliders, hot air balloons and helicopters.
He once landed a helicopter on Balloon Dome, a large granite dome that many consider Half Dome’s sister, Lawson said.
According to Lawson, prior to the accident on Pine Mountain, Knight had told him what a special place it was. “He loved the pines,” he said. “He felt like everything was cleansing when he was up there.”
Lawson said a hummingbird was flying around his friend shortly after the accident, and when a news crew went to take video of the accident site, there was a hummingbird in the shot. But when he went to visit the location, the hummingbird had gone.