Per The Associated Press, officials confirmed Wednesday that five people were killed after a small plane crashed during takeoff from Santa Catalina Island off the Southern California coast on Tuesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday the twin-engine Beechcraft 95 crashed shortly after it departed from Catalina Airport in Avalon at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The FAA said later in an their online incident report that the crash occurred under “unknown circumstances” during takeoff, and those killed were the pilot and four passengers. The names of the victims, their relation to one another and the flight’s destination were not released.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said confirmed that five adults were found dead at the scene in rugged terrain about a mile (1.6 kilometers) west of the airport, sharing in a statement that their Avalon station received a 911 emergency notification from a cell phone indicating that its user had been involved in a collision with possible injuries and provided GPS coordinates. According to the Sheriff’s Department’s news release, joint search and rescue team comprised of Avalon station deputies, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Avalon Search and Rescue and Avalon City Fire Department members found the plane about a mile west of Catalina Airport.
Santa Catalina Island, part of the Channel Islands, is located about 22 miles southwest of Los Angeles. Catalina Island Airport has a single, 3,000-foot-long runway and occupies a 1,602-foot-tall mountaintop at the center of the island. The airfield is known as the Airport in the Sky because of its precarious location at an elevation of 1,602 feet (488 meters) on the island about 25 miles off the coast of Los Angeles. It has a single 3,000-foot runway. About 4,000 residents live year-round on Santa Catalina Island.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will continue the investigation into the cause of the crash.
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