Authorities are working to recover the bodies of five people who were killed when a plane crashed on Catalina Island Tuesday night.
The crash happened at around 8 p.m. Authorities said five to six people were aboard the plane when it went down about a mile west of the airport.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, they received an emergency S.O.S. alert, letting them know that someone was involved in a crash.
The plane is believed to have taken off from Santa Monica Municipal Airport and landed at the Catalina Airport about 30 miles off the Los Angeles County coast at around 6 p.m. Tuesday. The plane took off again at around 8 p.m., but it was unclear where it was headed. That's when authorities received the emergency alert.
First responders found a crashed, twin-engine aircraft in rough, steep terrain. Five adults were found dead at the scene.
The plane's registered owner was identified as Ali Reza Safai, 73, of Los Angeles. Safai's wife identified him as one of the people on board the plane.
Details about the identifies of the other individuals on the plane were not immediately available.
U.S. & World
It is unclear what caused the crash. The FAA and NTSB are investigating.
The airfield known as the Airport in the Sky has a precarious location at an elevation of 1,602 feet on the island. It has a single 3,000-foot runway.
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