Three of the five people killed in a small plane crash on Catalina Island were identified Thursday by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
A twin-engine Beechcraft 95 aircraft crashed on the island just off the LA County coast Tuesday around 8 p.m., leaving everyone on board dead, authorities said. A preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration shows that there were four passengers and one flight member aboard the plane.
Ali Reza Safai, a 73-year-old man from West Hills; Haris Ali, a 33-year-old Fullerton man; and Margaret Mary Fenner, a 55-year-old woman, were identified by the coroner as three of the victims. The names of the other two people killed – identified by the coroner as two men, both in their 30s – have not been released because their next of kin have not yet been notified.
According to the FAA, the plane crashed shortly after taking off from Catalina Airport in Avalon. The agency’s preliminary report shows that the accident occurred during takeoff. Ali Safai is listed as the aircraft’s registered owner in FAA records.
Records show the plane took off from Santa Monica Airport earlier in the day, around 5:45 p.m., before heading to Catalina.
The Avalon Sheriff’s Station learned of the crash when it received a 911 SOS notification from a person’s cell phone, indicating that the phone user had been involved in a collision with possible injuries. It provided GPS coordinates for the location.
About a mile west of Catalina Airport, authorities discovered the wreckage and the five dead.
According to the National Weather Service, there were no dense fog advisories in place at the time. The cause and other circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
