AVALON, Calif. () — Five people were killed when a plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Catalina Island Tuesday night, authorities confirmed.
The twin-engine Beechcraft 95 went down in steep terrain around 8 p.m. about one mile west of the island’s airport. The Los Angeles County Sheriff – Avalon Station says it received a 911 SOS emergency notification from a cellular device that stated its user may have been involved in a collision with possible injuries.
The device provided GPS coordinates and when rescuers located the wreckage, they confirmed five adults had died.
It’s unclear where the plane was headed. The identities of the victims have not been released.
The airport is primarily used for general aviation aircraft, including single-engine airplanes and is known as the Airport in the Sky because of its location at an elevation of 1,602 feet. It has a single, 3,000-foot runway.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the deadly crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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