The owner of the single-engine plane that crashed in the Waianae Mountains above Kunia, taking the lives of all four people aboard, said today he is saddened by the tragedy.

The bodies of Dean Hutton, Gerrit Evensen, Heather Riley and Alexis Aaron were discovered late Saturday afternoon at the wreckage of the aircraft. The Beech 19A, manufactured in 1969, took off from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport for a sunset flight Friday.

Hutton was flying the fixed-wing four-seater. Evensen, a 28-year-old Punahou alumnus, his girlfriend, Riley, 27, and Aaron were the passengers.

“I am deeply saddened by this tragic event and my prayers go out to all affected,” said Jahn Mue­ller, owner of the plane and Aircraft Maintenance and Flight School Hawaii on Lagoon Drive. “I don’t want to speculate on the cause of this accident as that will be determined by professionals in due time. I knew Dean and he loved flying and had many hours in that airplane. He had an alternator issue several flights ago, and he handled it like a professional, and the aircraft was repaired and returned to service.”

Hutton had amassed 170 hours of flying time.

A flight plan was not on file for the single-engine plane, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer.

Friday at 6:37 p.m. was the last time Hutton communicated with air traffic control.

“Flight plans are optional and at the pilot’s discretion,” Kenitzer said. “Air traffic is not required to track aircraft that have not filed a flight plan.”