NEWPORT BEACH – A helicopter traveling to Catalina Island did not send a distress signal shortly after take-off from John Wayne Airport before slamming up against a Newport beach home Tuesday, Jan. 30, killing three people and injuring two others.

The pilot of the Robinson R44 helicopter, Joseph Anthony Tena, 60, of Newport Beach, along with passengers Kimberly Lynne Watzman, 45, of Santa Monica, and Brian R. Reichelt, 56, of Hollywood, Fla., died in the crash, the Orange County coroner’s office said.

Filings with the California Secretary of State list Tena as a manager and partner for Umbral Services, a Newport Beach corporation affiliated with Revolution Aviation, the company that leased the helicopter.

Revolution Aviation officials said in a statement the company is cooperating with the crash investigation and expressed sympathy for the victims.

“We know their families are heartbroken, as we are, since we also lost a beloved member of our aviation family, who was our dear friend and mentor,” the statement says. “We also are aware that there was one survivor aboard for whom we wish a rapid and complete recovery.”

Tena, originally from Spain and who went by Pepe, was known as “a man of constant motion” by family and friends for his love of traveling, sports, boating, music and spending time with his family in California and abroad, according to an obituary released by the family. A paddle-out in his honor is scheduled for Saturday morning in Newport Beach.

Watzman and Reichelt were executives with The Standard Hotels. She worked for about 11 years, most recently as general manager, at the The Standard’s Hollywood hotel, while he served for more than six years as regional director of finance for the chain.

“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of our friends,” said Amar Lalvani, chief executive officer of Standard International, in a statement on Wednesday. “Our focus now is on supporting their loved ones and our team during this difficult time.”

Another passenger aboard the four-seat helicopter and a person on the ground were injured. Their names have not been released by authorities.

One of those hurt was transported by ambulance to Orange County Global Medical Center’s Trauma Center and remained in critical condition Wednesday, said Jeff Corless, a spokesman for the hospital.

“As you know, the types of injuries one might potentially sustain in a serious accident such as this would typically require the higher level of care available at our trauma center,” Corless said in a statement. “At this time, I can confirm that the patient we received has been treated and is in critical but stable condition.

“While the patient’s family is asking for privacy at this moment, they did want the public to know of their loved one’s current condition.”

Details about the medical condition of the other injured victim were not available. But residents in the neighborhood where the helicopter crashed said they believe he was a maintenance worker doing work in one of the neighboring homes.

The helicopter went down soon after taking off from nearby John Wayne Airport, said Joshua Cawthra, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. No distress signal was sent from the helicopter, he said. The helicopter clipped a corner house at Egret Court and Shearwater Place.

Audio from the tower at John Wayne Airport indicates an air-traffic controller tried to get in touch with the helicopter’s pilot.

The controller referred to the last three digits of the helicopter’s tail number – “three-zero-Romeo” – and waited for a response. Silence. He said the sequence again. Still silence.

After the third try, the controller asked for HB1, which is the call sign for the Huntington Beach Police Department’s helicopter, directing that pilot to go to “the area around UCI.”

About 20 minutes later, the HB1 pilot asked the controller for the whole tail number. The controller gave it to him – N7530R – and the pilot read it back for confirmation, according to the audio.

Portions of the audio are overwhelmed by static, making it difficult to discern conversation.

But about 30 minutes later, the HB1 pilot says to the controller, “We’re going to finish up here,” and then asked for permission to leave the area by a certain route.

On Monday, the helicopter that crashed made a successful 32-minute flight from John Wayne Airport to Bob Maxwell Memorial Airfield in Oceanside, according to planeflighttracker.com.

The cause of the crash is unknown. The NTSB typically releases a preliminary report on crashes within 10 days, with the final report taking months if not more than a year to be completed and released.

On Wednesday, the fuselage was removed from the front of the home in the gated Bayview Terrace neighborhood. Investigators planned to review security video from homes in the neighborhood and inspect the damaged helicopter at a secure facility, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said.

Neighbors watched a cleanup crew inside and around the damaged house. Marilyn Lambe said she still has some debris from the crash scattered in her yard, which is right behind the home that was hit.

“When I heard the great bang, I thought it was a car crash,” she said. “Then, I saw my other neighbor run into her yard and she was screaming: ‘Call 911!’”

Roger Johnson, whose home is adjacent to the damaged one, said he heard a neighbor’s “blood-curdling scream.”

“When I looked out the window, soon after the bang, I saw a 6-foot-long piece of metal fly over and fall in the alley,” he said. “And then I heard the woman scream. When something like that happens, you’re totally shocked. I thought a crane had tipped over or something.”

Chelsie Piccininni, who lives across the street from the single-story house that absorbed the helicopter’s hit, said her 21-year-old son was home.

“When he called to tell me what happened, I was shaking,” she said. “I still have tiny bits and pieces in my backyard.”

Piccininni said she has lived in her home for 15 years, adding that the incident has left her so shaken that she’s considering moving. Her daughter usually parks her car near where the helicopter crashed.

“We got lucky this time,” she said. “But you can only be lucky so many times.”

The Associated Press and staff writer Alma Fausto contributed to this report.