No Commercial License Noted For Tour Operator

An overdue flight from Catalina back to John Wayne Airport (SNA) last Thursday afternoon set a search and rescue effort into motion, eventually locating the wrecked plane and three victims on a hilltop southwest of Catalina's Airport In The Sky (AVX).

As noted in ANN's initial story Saturday, the deceased have not yet been officially identified... but authorities are fairly certain the pilot and owner of the plane was Mark Hogland, a local sight-seeing flight operator. His fiancee had reported him overdue in his return from Catalina and notified authorities.

Hogland departed the mainland around 1:30 pm, and had planned to return about 5:00 pm with two passengers that had been staying at a resort on the island. But the weather was bad when Hogland took to the sky with his 1983 A36 Bonanza and two passengers for the short hop back to SNA, with low clouds and low visibility in rain prevailing.

The accident investigation has revealed Hogland was an Instrument-rated Private Pilot, but did not have a commercial license to fly for hire. Nonetheless, he was president of Sky Blue, a well-known local "flight-seeing" business.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor was unable to make specific comments about Hogland or on the investigation in progress, but did say that "Looking at pilot qualifications [is] a part of every FAA active investigation."

The crash is being scrutinized through a cooperative effort between the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the LA County Coroner's office.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 66819        Make/Model: BE36      Description: 36 Bonanza
  Date: 02/06/2009     Time: 0045

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
  City: AVALON   State: CA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE THREE PERSONS ON BOARD
  WERE FATALLY INJURED, AIRCRAFT WAS THE SUBJECT OF AN ALERT NOTICE AND
  WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED ON SOUTHWEST SIDE OF SANTA CATALINA ISLAND, AVALON, VA

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   3
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   2     Fat:   2     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: LONG BEACH, CA  (WP05)                Entry date: 02/09/2009

FMI: www.skyblue-usa.com, www.catalina.com/airport.html, www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov