Five German citizens are missing off the coast of Costa Rica. They were traveling in a small plane when contact was lost. The search for the victims continues.
Update from October 23, 3:45 p.m .: As the Costa Rican broadcaster NCR announced, citing the Ministry of Public Safety in Costa Rica, the nationality of the pilot is now also known. Accordingly, it is a 66-year-old Swiss. In addition, the fifth passenger on the crashed plane, alongside McFit millionaire Rainer Schaller, his girlfriend and their two children, is said to be a 40-year-old man. It was not initially known what connection he had with the family.
In the meantime, there is little hope that there will be any survivors after the plane crash, in addition to the two bodies that have already been recovered. The director of the coast guard, Martín Arias, said on Saturday (local time) on the Canal 6 television channel that it was practically impossible for anyone to have survived the crash. The Minister for Public Safety, Jorge Torres, also commented on the accident: “The impact was very strong. This is very painful for the country, we are in mourning.”
Update from October 23, 12:35 p.m .: Search teams are still deployed off the coast of Costa Rica. McFit millionaire Rainer Schaller (53) and his family are considered missing. The German was traveling with someone on a private jet when radio contact suddenly broke off.
Plane crash off Costa Rica: McFit founder missing
The Piaggio P.180 Avanti light aircraft went missing from Mexico on Friday evening (local time) on its way to Costa Rica. As the plane approached Limón airport over the sea, communication was lost around 6 p.m. (local time), the authorities said. After the contact with the machine was lost, the emergency protocol with the coast guard and the air surveillance service was activated. According to local media, the pilot did not report an emergency and the machine did not send an emergency signal that would be sent automatically in the event of an impact.
As the image reports, Rainer Schaller is said to have gone online on WhatsApp for the last time – at 1.45 a.m. our time. However, it is not known whether he wrote a message.
Two bodies have so far been discovered by the search teams (see also update 8:37 a.m.). Wreckage and pieces of luggage had previously been found in the sea off the coast of Costa Rica. The Costa Rican Ministry of Public Safety released a photo with the personal belongings.
Update from October 23, 8:37 a.m .: A private plane disappeared from the radar on the flight from Mexico to Costa Rica. Five passengers and the pilot are said to have been on board the Piaggio 180 machine. Apparently, the entrepreneur and McFit founder Rainer Schaller was on board with his partner and her children. The Foreign Office in Berlin initially did not provide any information on the identity of the passengers on the plane. A spokeswoman said the diplomatic mission in Costa Rica was in contact with authorities in the capital, San Jose, about the case.
“There were five passengers and one pilot on the plane — a total of six people,” Civil Aviation Authority director Fernando Naranjo said. “Based on the dates of birth, there were also two children among them.” According to reports from the television station Teletica, the US border guards also supported the search work with a reconnaissance aircraft.
Search teams found two bodies off the coast of Costa Rica on Saturday night. Costa Rican Public Safety Minister Jorge Torres said the dead bodies found in the Caribbean Sea were an adult and a child. Debris, seats and luggage had previously been discovered in the sea.
The machine has been missing since Friday evening. Communications were lost as the plane approached Limón airport over the sea, the security ministry said. “The plane disappeared from radar about 25 miles from Limón Airport. The plane was due to land at 6:58 p.m., we lost it at an altitude of 2,000 feet,” Naranjo said. That’s around 600 meters.
Update from October 22, 8:39 p.m .: Emergency services discovered two dead people on the coast of Costa Rica. It is said to be the corpse of an adult and a child, as the television station Teletica reported on Saturday, citing the Ministry of Public Security. The identity of the two bodies is still unknown. It is therefore still unclear whether it is about the missing Germans.
Costa Rica: Debris found after contact with small plane was lost – “McFit” founder also missing
Update from October 22, 3:52 p.m .: Off the coast of Costa Rica, emergency services have found several pieces of debris in the sea. Parts of a fuselage, seats and a bag were sighted during a reconnaissance flight about 28 kilometers from Limón airport, TV channel Teletica reported on Saturday, citing the Central American country’s Ministry of Public Safety. There was initially no further information about the passengers.
Costa Rica: contact with small plane broke off – “McFit” founder among missing people
Update from October 22, 2:08 p.m .: According to information from Bild am Sonntag , it is now known who the five occupants of the plane who have been missing since Friday are. It is said to be the multimillionaire and founder of the fitness chain “McFit”, Rainer Schaller. In addition, his girlfriend and her two children are on board. The fifth person is a man named Marcus K.
The spokeswoman for the “McFit” operator RSG-Group GmbH, Jeanine Minaty, confirmed this information to the image . “We don’t know any more at the moment,” he said. Contact with the private plane en route from Mexico to Costa Rica was lost on Friday. A search operation of the neighboring countries should be continued on Saturday. According to the picture , the machine is a private aircraft of the Piaggio 180 type.
Five Germans missing off the coast of Costa Rica: contact with small aircraft broke off
First report from October 22nd: Puerto Limón – Five German passengers were on their way to Costa Rica. Contact suddenly broke off off the coast of the Caribbean state. The five Germans are considered missing.
Costa Rica: Contact with private plane breaks off – five German missing
The five missing people were on a private plane, it said on Saturday (October 22). The light aircraft was on its way from Mexico to Limón province airport on Friday when contact was lost at 6:00 p.m. (Saturday, 2:00 a.m. CEST), said Costa Rican Public Safety Minister Jorge Torres.
The machine suddenly lost its connection with the control tower at Barra de Parismina airport, and all measures were taken immediately to locate it, Torres said in a video published by his ministry.
Costa Rica: Search had to be stopped – further measures planned for Saturday
Because of the falling night and bad weather, the search was called off after a few hours. It should continue on Saturday.
Pictures of planes from Costa Rica had already caused consternation in April. A cargo plane broke in two on the runway. Twelve passengers were injured on a flight from Spain to Argentina. Shortly before Brazil, the plane encountered severe turbulence. Suitcases and bags, as well as food trays, were apparently also thrown through the cabin. (chd/AFP)
