A plane crashed on Catalina Island off the Southern California coast near the island’s private airport on Tuesday night. It was not immediately known if there were injuries or deaths. Supervisor Travis White with the Los Angeles County Fire Department said the plane crashed about 8:30 p.m. on the island that is about 25 miles off the shoreline south of Los Angeles. He had no further details, including what kind of aircraft was involved.
Detective Lar Meyers with the Avalon Sheriff’s Station on the island said investigators were still making their way to the scene that was near the island’s airport.
The airport is primarily used for general aviation aircraft, including single-engine airplanes and is known as the Airport in the Sky because of its location at an elevation of 1,602 feet. It has a single, 3,000-foot runway.
A single-engine Cirrus SR-22 airplane crashed late Saturday afternoon in a wooded area at the Wright Brothers National Memorial’s First Flight Airport in Kill Devil Hills, the National Park Service said. Everyone on the plane died.
The park service on Tuesday identified the four adults on board as Shashwat Ajit Adhikari, 31, of Silver Spring, Maryland; Jason Ray Campbell, 43, and Kate McAllister Neely, 39, both of Southern Pines; and Matthew Arthur Fassnacht, 44, of Marietta, Georgia. The child’s name was not released.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what happened.
NTSB Aviation Accident Investigator Ryan Enders said Sunday the plane was on a multileg flight, flying from Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo, when the aircraft tried to land. Witnesses reported seeing the plane approach the runway, circle and then veer and crash into the trees, where it caught fire, The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Virginia, reported. There were no plane mayday calls before the crash, Enders said.
Enders said last weekend that a preliminary report would be released in about 10 days, with a more extensive report and probable cause being released later.
The First Flight Airport, located about 75 miles (121 kilometers) southeast of Norfolk, was established 96 years ago and commemorates the site where Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first powered flight on Dec. 17, 1903.
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