4 of 5 people killed in Catalina Island plane crash identified by coroner
Three of five people killed in a small plane crash on Catalina Island were identified by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner Thursday.
A twin-engine Beechcraft 95 airplane crashed on the island just off the coast of LA County around 8 p.m. Tuesday, leaving every person on board dead, authorities said. A preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration shows there were four passengers and one flight member aboard the aircraft.
Ali Reza Safai, a 73-year-old West Hills man; Haris Ali, a 33-year-old Fullerton man; Margaret Mary Fenner, a 55-year-old woman; and Gonzalo Lubel, a 34-year-old man, were identified by coroner's officials as four of the victims. The names of the final person killed — identified by coroner's officials as a man in his 30s — have not been released as their next of kin have not yet been notified.
According to the FAA, the plane crashed shortly after it departed from Catalina Airport in Avalon. The agency's preliminary report indicates the accident happened during takeoff. Ali Safai is listed as the registered owner of the plane in FAA records.
Records show the plane had departed 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, which indicated the phone user had been involved in a collision with people possibly injured. It provided GPS coordinates for the location.
About one mile west of Catalina Airport, authorities discovered the wreckage and the five people killed.
According to the National Weather Service, there were no dense fog advisories at the time. The cause and other circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
