Catalina Island plane crash: Coroner identifies 3 of 5 dead

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Coroner’s officials on Thursday identified three of the five people who died in a small plane crash on Catalina Island.

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner’s Office said the deceased included Harris Ali, 33; Ali Safai, 73; and Margaret Renner, 55.

The twin-engine Beechcraft 95 crashed shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, just moments after taking off from Catalina Airport near the island town of Avalon.

The FAA said five people were on board. Five adults were found dead at the scene in steep, rugged terrain about a mile west of the airport, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

The sheriff’s Avalon station received a 911 SOS from a cell phone indicating the user may have been involved in a collision and may have been injured, authorities said.

“It gives coordinates to a location, so it’s not necessarily a street name or a landmark,” said Deputy Jacob Sivley. “It’s just coordinates on a map, so officers had to search the area and try to figure out where this SOS notification came from.”

Using the GPS coordinates provided by the device, rescuers were able to locate the wreckage and the bodies of the five people on board.

It is believed the plane took off from Santa Monica Airport, flew to the island and departed again before crashing.

When officers arrived at the scene, the plane appeared to be mostly intact, officials said.

It remains unclear what caused the crash, but the island’s airport presents its own challenges for pilots, according to AIR7’s Scott Reiff.

The airport is primarily used for general aviation aircraft, including single-engine aircraft, and is known as the airport in the sky due to its location at an altitude of 1,602 feet. It has a single 3,000-foot runway.

“I landed there by plane several times. It’s difficult,” Reiff said. “You approach…essentially over a cliff, and when you get to the airport you can’t see the end as you descend. There’s a hump in the middle so you can’t tell exactly how long the runway is.”

The crashed plane was only designed to carry four people, but there were five on board at the time. Investigators will determine whether this was a factor.

“Our aviation office will respond with the Los Angeles County coroner and our emergency medical services command to carry out their duties to the best of their ability in this difficult terrain,” Sivley said Wednesday.

Along with the Sheriff’s Department, the crash was investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.