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Plane that crashed on Catalina Island reportedly wasn’t given clearance to take off
A small plane lands on Catalina's Airport in the Sky as the U.S. Marines and Navy Seabees rebuild the mountaintop runway on storied Santa Catalina Island in 2019.
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Damian Dovarganes
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Associated Press
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Topline:
A Catalina Airport official told a local news outlet that the plane that crashed Tuesday night shortly after takeoff, killing all five aboard, was not given clearance to take off that evening.
What’s new: Carl True, the general manager of the Catalina Airport, told the Southern California News Group that the airport operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and doesn’t allow flights after sunset because it’s not equipped for nighttime operations. While True said the pilot pre-arranged for his arrival to the airport after 5 p.m. that day, takeoff later that evening was not pre-arranged. (LAist could not reach True for comment).
The backstory: The twin-engine Beechcraft 95 crashed about a mile away shortly after takeoff from Catalina Airport around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, killing five adults on board, according to the FAA and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
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The L.A. County Medical Examiner's Office identified four of the five victims: Ali Safai, 73; Margaret Fenner, 55; Haris Ali, 33; Gonzalo Lubel, 34.
What’s next: The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. An FAA spokesperson did not confirm if the plane was not cleared, but said the agency “looks at pilot performance as part of every accident investigation.”
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