Catalina Island plane crash: Pilot didn’t have takeoff clearance, says airport official

AVALON, Calif. (AP) - The pilot in a plane crash on a Southern California island that killed all five people aboard did not have clearance to take off, an airport official said.

The twin-engine Beechcraft 95 crashed moments after it departed shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday from Santa Catalina Island’s airport near the island city of Avalon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Airport’s operating hours end for the day at 5 p.m. but pilots can arrange with management to arrive and depart before sunset, the airport’s general manager, Carl True, told the Orange County Register Thursday. The pilot arranged for arrival, "but not for the takeoff and he was advised of that," True said.

The airport does not allow flights after sunset because it is not equipped for nighttime operations. True said that while the pilot was not given clearance, the takeoff was not considered illegal. He did not identify the pilot.

The airfield is known as the Airport in the Sky because of its precarious location at an elevation of 1,602 feet on the island about 25 miles off the coast of Los Angeles. It has a single 3,000-foot runway.

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Authorities identified three of the people killed in the crash as Ali Reza Safai, 73, of West Hills and the owner of the plane; Haris Ali, 33, of Fullerton and Margaret Mary Fenner, 55.

The other two occupants were identified as men in their 30s, pending notification of their relatives.

It was not yet known who was piloting the plane.

About 4,000 residents live year-round on Santa Catalina Island, where tourists from the mainland are drawn for snorkeling, boating, hiking and strolling the picturesque streets of the oceanfront city of Avalon.