Gonzalo Lubel Obituary, Death – Authorities announced on Friday the identification of the fourth of five individuals who lost their lives in a small plane crash on Santa Catalina Island. The deceased was identified as 34-year-old Gonzalo Lubel by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, although his place of residence has not been disclosed.
Earlier, the medical examiner’s office identified three other victims: 33-year-old Haris Ali from Fullerton, 55-year-old Margaret Mary Fenner, and 73-year-old Ali Reza Safai, a resident of West Hills. The identity of the fifth victim, a man in his 30s, remains withheld pending the notification of his family.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records indicate that the aircraft involved in the crash was registered to Ali Reza Safai, who had previously worked as a flight instructor at the now-defunct Santa Monica Aviation, based at Santa Monica Airport.
The crash involved a twin-engine Beechcraft 95-B55, which went down shortly after taking off from Catalina Airport in Avalon around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, according to FAA Public Affairs Specialist Rick Breitenfeldt. The plane crashed approximately one mile west of the airport.
Breitenfeldt confirmed that five people were aboard the aircraft at the time of the accident. Investigations will be conducted by both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), with the NTSB leading the inquiry and providing further updates as information becomes available.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Avalon Station reported receiving a 911 SOS emergency notification from a cellphone indicating a potential collision with injuries. In response, deputies from Avalon Station, along with members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Avalon Search and Rescue, and Avalon City Fire Department, swiftly arrived at the scene.
Under a unified command, the first responders located the wreckage of the twin-engine plane about a mile west of Catalina Island Airport. Tragically, all five adults on board were found and pronounced dead at the crash site.
According to data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware, the Beechcraft aircraft took off from Santa Monica Airport shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday and reached Catalina Airport about 20 minutes later.
Typically, Catalina Airport operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and flight operations are generally not permitted outside of these hours or when the airport is unattended. An airport official informed the Southern California News Group that the pilot had arranged to land at the airport after its regular hours on Tuesday but did not receive approval for a later takeoff that night.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing, as authorities work to determine the specific circumstances that led to this tragic accident.