LOS ANGELES – Pilot of small plane that crashed on takeoff Catalina Airport last month, killing all five people Passengers on the ship ignored a warning from the island airport manager that the flight would not be approved due to darkness, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The twin-engine Beechcraft 95-B55 crashed shortly after departing Catalina Airport in Avalon around 8 p.m. Oct. 8, according to the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane crashed about a mile west of the airport.

Those who died in the accident Haris Ali, 33, of Fullerton; Margaret Mary Fenner, 55; Ali Reza Safai (73) of West Hills; Joeun Park, 37; and Gonzalo Lubel, 34.

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According to FAA records, the plane was registered to Safai, who was a flight instructor at Santa Monica Aviation, which did not previously operate at Santa Monica Airport.

Catalina Airport is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and aircraft operations are generally prohibited at other times because the airport is not equipped with lighting.

According to a preliminary NTSB report released Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 8, a flight instructor and two student pilots were preparing to depart Catalina Airport on a rented single-engine plane, but the plane experienced a “preflight magneto failure.” prevented the departure. The group contacted the flight school where the plane was chartered and they were told that another plane would fly from Santa Monica Airport to Catalina to pick up the group.

That plane, apparently driven by Safai, an acquaintance of the flight school owner, left Santa Monica Airport with another person around 6 p.m. on Oct. 8 and landed in Catalina about 20 minutes later, according to the NTSB report. According to the report, the manager of Catalina Airport allowed the plane to land at the airport even though the airport was closed at that time, but instructed the pilot that the group should depart before sunset at approximately 6:30 p.m.

After landing at Catalina Airport, “the pilots shut down both engines, loaded the stranded pilots, and attempted to restart the engines,” according to the NTSB. “During the restart, the right engine did not start due to insufficient battery power. Passengers exited the aircraft and an extension cord was then attached to the onboard battery charger. The pilots were informed by the airport manager that the required time would elapse before sunset as battery charging would extend beyond sunset.” Afterwards, a departure will not be approved.

“The pilot/airplane owner informed the airport manager that he needed to leave and still intended to leave,” the NTSB preliminary report said. The statement is included. “The airport manager told him that although he could not stop him, his departure could not be approved and he would do so at his own risk.”

The plane then took off around 8pm and crashed minutes after takeoff.

The NTSB report makes no determination as to the exact cause of the crash, which occurred on a ridge about a mile west-southwest of the runway.

Airport security camera footage shows the plane attempting to take off in “dark night conditions,” according to the report.

“It was not possible to tell in the video whether the plane was in the air before reaching the end of the runway,” according to the report. “As the aircraft reached the takeoff end of the runway, it descended beyond the field of view of the camera.”

The report said flight data showed that the plane “may have taken off around the midpoint of the runway and maintained a low altitude until it reached the take-off end of the runway,” then crashed after making a slight descent and a right turn.