The pilot of a small plane in a fatal crash on California's Santa Catalina Island last month took off at night despite warnings, and a new NTSB report provides some answers on what happened. The Beechcraft 95-B44 airplane crashed shortly after taking off about 8pm on October 8, killing five, reports the Los Angeles Times. Nighttime takeoffs are not sanctioned at the island's tiny airport because it has no lights or air traffic controllers, per the Orange County Register.
The pilot initially planned on taking off before sundown, but the plane's right engine didn't have enough battery power, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report. Because the charging delay would push the takeoff to after sundown, "the airport manager advised him that, while he could not stop him, his departure would be unapproved and at his own risk," the report states. The pilot has been identified as the plane's owner, Ali Safai, 73. He died along with the other four people on board, who were identified by the LA County coroner's office as Haris Ali, 33; Margaret Mary Fenner, 55; Joeun Park, 37; and Gonzalo Lubel, 34, per the Times. (More plane crash stories.)
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