At about 7:45 pm on Wednesday 30 September, a REACH Air Medical Services EC135 air ambulance lifted off from the Pebbly Beach heliport on Santa Catalina Island, about a mile from Avalon, carrying a patient to the mainland. Within moments it was in the sea off Pebbly Beach.

Three of the five people aboard died: the pilot, a nurse and the patient, a 45-year-old Avalon woman who, relatives say, had suffered an allergic reaction. A medic and the patient’s son survived and were flown to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where both were reported in stable condition.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department divers found the woman’s body in the wreckage on Thursday evening, the Coast Guard said, nearly 23 hours after the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, and no cause has been given.

Forty minutes on the island

The helicopter had flown in from Oceanside, in San Diego County, leaving at about 6:40 pm and landing on Catalina at 7:04 pm, according to Flightradar24 data cited by local stations and the Associated Press. Flight-tracking records cited by aviation outlets identify it as N313RX, an EC135 P2+ registered to REACH Air Medical Services of Santa Rosa, California. Airbus Helicopters confirmed that an EC135 P2+ operated by REACH was involved.

Sunset in Avalon that evening came at 6:40 pm, so the departure from Pebbly Beach was made in darkness. Flight-tracking data reported by the Los Angeles Times show the helicopter climbed to about 175 feet in roughly eight seconds before descending rapidly. Coast Guard Capt. Stacey Crecy said it went down shortly after takeoff and hit the water a short distance from the island.

ABC7 Los Angeles reports on the rescue operation off Avalon after the medevac helicopter went down shortly after takeoff.

Baywatch Avalon personnel alerted the Coast Guard at about 7:50 pm, and county rescue boats reached the scene within three minutes of the call, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said. “We do have survivors in the water,” one voice reports on a recording of the emergency radio traffic. Four people were pulled from the sea; two were pronounced dead at the scene.

The Coast Guard sent an MH-60 Jayhawk crew from Air Station Ventura and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium to join county fire crews, Baywatch boats from Avalon, Cabrillo and the Isthmus, and sheriff’s divers. By Thursday afternoon the search had covered more than 130 square nautical miles over about 20 hours, in what Crecy described as ideal conditions.

Found in the wreckage

A county lifeguard dive team using a remotely operated vehicle located the wreckage in 218 feet of water, Marrone said. The fire department said the missing woman was located shortly before 6:30 pm on Thursday.

Relatives described her as a mother of three who had lived and worked on the island for more than 20 years, and said her son had gone with her to help translate. Authorities have not released the names of the dead, and REACH said it would not identify its crew members until their families gave permission.

The investigation

The NTSB is in charge of the investigation, with the FAA also investigating, and its team reached the scene at about 11:30 am on Thursday. “It is very early in the investigation, and limited information is available at this time,” an NTSB spokesperson said. The helicopter is to be recovered and taken to a secure facility for examination, and Airbus Helicopters said it was supporting the NTSB.

The FAA’s initial statement placed the crash near the Pebbly Beach Seaplane Base, with five people on board. A preliminary NTSB report on the Catalina helicopter crash would typically follow within about two weeks; the final report, with a probable cause, usually takes one to two years.

The NTSB confirms it is investigating the 30 September crash near Avalon.

The type and the island

The EC135 is a twin-engine light helicopter that first flew in 1994 and entered service in 1996. In P-series versions such as the P2+, its two turboshafts are Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206s. Airbus, which now markets the type as the H135, says more than 700 serve as dedicated emergency medical helicopters worldwide, making it the global fleet leader in that role.

Catalina lies about 22 miles off the Los Angeles County mainland and has one small hospital. Around 250 people a year are flown to the mainland for treatment, the hospital’s chief executive has previously said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

REACH lost a crew member less than a year earlier. On 6 October 2025, one of its EC130 T2 helicopters came down on Highway 50 in Sacramento moments after leaving the UC Davis Medical Center heliport, and the flight nurse aboard died of her injuries days later; the NTSB has not yet issued its final report. Wednesday’s crash also came 11 days after a firefighting helicopter crash in Yosemite National Park killed two pilots, and two weeks after a news helicopter went down in Los Angeles, the Associated Press noted.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents Catalina, posted about the crash on X within hours, writing that search and rescue operations were under way and that she was praying for everyone on board. She later paid tribute to those aboard.

On Thursday, a memorial service was held on the island near the crash site to mourn and pray for those involved, ABC7 reported. REACH said that in the days ahead its focus would remain on caring for its people, supporting their families and honouring the lives and service of those it had lost.

Sources: Federal Aviation Administration statement, 30 September 2026; NTSB Newsroom on X, 1 October 2026; US Coast Guard via FOX 5 San Diego/KUSI, 1 October 2026; Associated Press via PBS NewsHour, 1 October 2026; Los Angeles Times, 1 October 2026; KTLA, 1 October 2026; ABC7 Los Angeles, 1-2 October 2026; NBC Los Angeles, 1-2 October 2026; NBC 7 San Diego, 1 October 2026; CBS Los Angeles, 1 October 2026; FOX 11 Los Angeles, 1 October 2026; City News Service via MyNewsLA, 1 October 2026; California Post, 1 October 2026; KRCR, 1 October 2026; Baird Maritime, 1 October 2026; FLYING Magazine, 1 October 2026; AeroCorner, 1 October 2026; AeroTime, 1 October 2026; Boing Boing, 1 October 2026; FAA Aircraft Registry, accessed 2 October 2026; Airbus Helicopters H135 product page, accessed 2 October 2026; Safran, 11 October 2016; NTSB investigation and family-assistance pages; CapRadio, 4 November 2025; CBS Sacramento, 12 October 2025; Wikipedia, Eurocopter EC135