When Catalina Romero arrived at Catalina Island\u2019s tiny emergency room this week with a severe allergic reaction, officials decided she needed medical attention on the mainland.<\/p>\n
So they called a medical evacuation helicopter out of Oceanside. For residents of Avalon and the other Catalina communities, helicopters are part of life when emergencies and unexpected events require services the island doesn\u2019t provide.<\/p>\n
But just moments after takeoff, the helicopter crashed into the ocean near Pebbly Beach.<\/p>\n
Romero, the pilot and medevac nurse Jessica Devries, 48, who were on board, were killed. The pilot\u2019s name has not been publicly released. Romero\u2019s eldest son and another passenger were injured and remain in the hospital.<\/p>\n
As federal investigators try to determine the cause of the crash, island residents are mourning the dead and confronting the trade-offs of life so isolated from the rest of Southern California.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a small community,\u201d said Dr. Matthew Byrnes, who works at Catalina Island Health. \u201cThe level of tragedy is so profound that you feel it to the core of your soul. And everybody feels the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dozens of flights to and from Catalina Island have crashed over the years, with pilots saying the airport poses its share of challenges. But Avalon Mayor Pro Tem Michael Ponce said most crashes involve sightseeing helicopters and private planes generally unfamiliar with the island\u2019s unique landscape and runway, officials say. <\/p>\n
Accidents involving professionals like the medical chopper crew, he said, are much rarer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want to know what happened,\u201d Ponce said. \u201cWe know that accidents happen and that\u2019s just part of it. But if it\u2019s a lifesaving event, we\u2019re going to get a medevac off the island. That\u2019s just what happens here.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 4,000 people call the island home year-round.<\/p>\n
There have been 42 accidents and crashes tied to the Catalina airport that have claimed 30 lives since 1982, according to data from the National Transportation Safety Board.<\/p>\n
The agency\u2019s crash reports and pilots familiar with the island\u2019s so-called Airport in the Sky, which sits atop a 1,600-foot mountaintop about 10 miles from Avalon, have long expressed concerns about the runway where planes land. <\/p>\n
The runway slope and width create what\u2019s known as a crowned runway illusion that distorts a pilot\u2019s perception of height and distance during their final approach. Pilots have compared landing on the short runway, with either side plunging straight down off the side of a vertical cliff, to landing on an aircraft carrier. <\/p>\n
At times, pilots have panicked, fearing they were running out of runway, and braked too hard, causing accidents. <\/p>\n
Pilots navigating the island also face heavy turbulence, low-lying sea fog, sudden microclimates and strong updrafts and downdrafts that can push a small aircraft off course. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s so much of a concern that night flights are banned at Catalina Airport. <\/p>\n
The most recent fatal plane crash on the island occurred in October 2024 when a twin-engine Beechcraft 95 went down during takeoff from Catalina Airport, killing five people. <\/p>\n
An NTSB investigation into the Wednesday\u2019s crash continues, but a preliminary report revealed that the pilot took off from the airport after dark after suffering battery issues that delayed the flight. The airport manager told the pilot that \u201cwhile he could not stop him, his departure would be unapproved and at his own risk,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n
The plane crashed into a ridgeline about a mile southwest of the end of the runway. <\/p>\n
Medical helicopter flights land and depart not from the airport but from a separate location: a heliport on Pebbly Beach, just steps from the ocean. <\/p>\n
The Eurocopter EC135 P2 was owned by REACH Air Medical Services. <\/p>\n
Flight tracking data show the helicopter left Catalina\u2019s Pebbly Beach heliport at about 7:46 p.m. and got about 175 feet above sea level about eight seconds into its flight before rapidly descending.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a helicopter down right off of Pebbly Beach,\u201d emergency dispatchers said over the radio, according to an audio recording of the incident. \u201cWe need Baywatch Avalon by boat. We\u2019ve got a helicopter with potentially three people on board. … We have people screaming for help.\u201d<\/p>\n