Pilot in Catalina crash that killed 5 took off after dark: like flying into a 'black hole'

Flying a small plane into Catalina Island's 'airport in the sky' can be a bit like landing on an aircraft carrier. It has one narrow runway perched high on a mesa with steep cliffs at either end tumbling 1,600 feet to the deep blue Pacific Ocean.

Even then, it may only be an educated guess. Flying conditions can rapidly change...there's no air traffic controller, no evening attendants and, crucially, no runway lights.

Twenty-two miles offshore on a mostly undeveloped island, the night can be pitch black. It's not just tough to see the runway, it can be hard to tell up from down.

It will probably take investigators from the National Transportation Safety board months, if not years, to determine the precise cause of the crash.

Read at Los Angeles Times