On the way from Mexico to Costa Rica, the private plane of McFit founder Rainer Schaller, who is on board with his family, has an accident and crashes into the sea. According to a media report, there is no flight recorder. According to experts, the fuselage of the machine must be found to investigate the cause.
The private plane owned by German entrepreneur Rainer Schaller that crashed off the coast of Costa Rica had neither a flight recorder nor a device to record communications. The company that operates the machine has reported this, reported the Costa Rican television station Teletica, citing the head of the civil aviation authority, Fernando Naranjo. Because of the small size of the aircraft, this was also not mandatory. It is now important to find the body of the machine in order to advance the investigation into the cause of the crash, Naranjo said.
The Piaggio P.180 Avanti business jet with McFit founder Schaller, his partner, their two children, another German and a Swiss pilot on board crashed into the sea near Limón on the Caribbean coast on Friday evening. Some wreckage and the bodies of an adult and a child have been recovered so far. After the search had to be stopped on Sunday due to bad weather conditions, it was resumed on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the RSG Group, founded by Schaller, Jeanine Minaty, also confirmed today that Schaller was on board the crashed aircraft with his family. "We are shocked, stunned and full of sadness about the tragic accident. The news of the last few days has shaken us deeply and our thoughts are with the relatives in these difficult hours." The authorities in the Central American country had previously confirmed that the 53-year-old founder of the McFit gym chain and relatives were on board the crashed machine.
But what happened on board the Piaggio P.180 Avanti business jet? The machine had started with the family, another German passenger and the pilot from Switzerland in Palenque in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Communications were lost as the plane approached Limón Airport on the Caribbean coast over the sea, the Ministry of Security said. "The plane went off the radar about 25 miles from Limón airport," said Fernando Naranjo, director of the civil aviation authority. At no time did the pilot report any difficulties in contact with the air traffic controllers - so it is still completely unclear why the machine crashed.
The RSG Group said: "Since the situation is still being investigated on site, we cannot comment further at this time and ask for your understanding." The Foreign Office also said that the embassy in San José was in contact with the local authorities to clarify the matter.
So far, parts of the fuselage, travel bags and backpacks have been found in the sea. According to media reports, two representatives from Schaller's US company Gold's Gym arrived in Costa Rica. They drove with officers from the criminal police to the coast guard base in Portete near Limón to identify debris from the plane and personal belongings of the passengers, the television station Teletica reported.
