Pilot Defied Orders to Not Fly at Night Before Fatal Crash

Plane went down on Santa Catalina Island, killing 5
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 7, 2024 1:24 PM CST
Pilot in Fatal Crash Defied Orders on Night Flight
The place went down on Oct. 8 on Santa Catalina Island.   (Medics with the Los AngelL.A. County Sheriff’s Department Special Enforcement Bureau)

The pilot of a small plane in a fatal crash on California's Santa Catalina Island last month was not supposed to be flying at night, 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 permitted from 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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