A small plane crashed during takeoff from Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California on Wednesday, killing five persons, according to police.
The twin-engine Beechcraft 95 crashed shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, just seconds after taking off from Catalina Airport near the island city of Avalon, according to the FAA.
The FAA reported there were five persons on board. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said that five adults were found dead on the scene in steep, rough terrain about a mile (1.6 kilometers) west of the airport.
The pilot and four passengers were killed in the crash, which occurred under “unknown circumstances” during takeoff, according to the FAA’s later online incident report. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
According to officials, emergency responders responded after the Avalon Sheriff Station got a 911 emergency notification via cell phone.
“The cellular device stated the user’s cellphone has been involved in a collision with possible injuries and provided a location as GPS coordinates,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
The airstrip is known as the Airport in the Sky due to its perilous location at an elevation of 1,602 feet (488 meters) on the island about 25 miles (40 kilometers) off the coast of Los Angeles. It has a single runway of 3,000 feet (914 meters).
Santa Catalina Island has around 4,000 year-round residents, while tourists from the mainland come to snorkel, sail, hike, and wander the lovely streets of the beachfront city of Avalon.