A new report by federal officials has revealed what happened that led to the crash of a plane on a Southern California island, killing all five people on board, that took off in the dark despite not having clearance to fly. do this.

The Twin-engine Beechcraft 95 crashed as it was attempting to take off shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday from Santa Catalina Island Airport near the town of Avalon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The airport does not allow flights after sunset as it is not equipped for night operations. The airport manager said before that while the pilot was not given clearance, the take-off was not considered illegal.

The preliminary report, released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board, said the plane first landed at the Catalina Island airport at 6:20 p.m. to pick up a flight instructor and two student pilots who were stranded after their chartered aircraft malfunctioned. defective.

The airport manager told the pilot that he had to leave by sunset at 6:31 p.m. As the pilot tried to take off with his new passengers, the plane’s right engine wouldn’t start due to insufficient battery power, so he had to get out and plug in. engine to a charger, according to the report.

The airport manager informed the pilot that because the loading time would push the departure time past sunset, they would not be cleared for takeoff. The pilot said he had to go anyway, the report said.

“The airport director informed him that although he could not stop him, his departure would be unauthorized and at his own risk,” the report said.

Airport security footage shows the plane taking off in “dark night conditions,” where it was not possible to tell whether the plane was airborne or not before reaching the end of the runway, according to the report.

The plane crashed with the landing gear extended into a ridgeline about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) southwest of the end of the runway, the report said. The main wreckage ended up in a ravine about 450 feet (137 meters) west of the initial point of impact.

The plane was registered to Ali Safai, 73, of Los Angeles, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. He was a former flight instructor and founder of a flight school that closed in 2018.

He died in the accident alongside Gonzalo Lubel, 34; Haris Ali, 33; Joeun Park, 37; and Margaret Mary Fenner, 55, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.

The airfield is known as the Sky Airport because of its precarious location at an elevation of 1,602 feet (488 meters) on the island, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) off the coast of Los Angeles. It’s known to be difficult to land and take off, and it was where it’s at previous accidents.

The airport has a single 3,000-foot (914-meter) runway that is not equipped with runway lighting.