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Six people have been reportedly killed after a small aircraft plunged into the water off the coast of Costa Rica.
Gold’s Gym owner Rainer Schaller, his girlfriend Christiane Schikorsky, their children Aaron and Finja, and the entrepreneur’s personal trainer Marcus Kurreck were believed to be on the flight.
The plane’s pilot, who has not been identified, was Swiss.
A flight plan filed for the small, charter plane listed Rainer Schaller as a passenger. A man by the same name runs international chains of fitness and gym outlets, including Gold’s Gym and McFit.
At least one other of those aboard the plane seemed to be a relative of Schaller, but the relation was not immediately confirmed by authorities.
Costa Rican authorities said pieces of the twin-engine turboprop aircraft were found in the water Saturday after the flight went missing Friday.
This handout photo shows flight passengers’ personal belongings recovered from Caribbean waters along with pieces of a twin-engine turboprop aircraft, in Limon, Costa Rica, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022
Six people, apparently including a German business magnate, were feared dead Saturday after the small plane crashed into the Caribbean just off the Costa Rican coast
This handout picture shows an item found during the search of a small plane that crashed off the coast of Costa Rica on the eve, taken in Limon, on October 22, 2022
Martín Arias, Costa Rica’s assistant security minister, said no bodies had been found yet at the site, about 17 miles off the coast from the Limon airport.
‘Pieces have been found that indicate that this is the aircraft,’ Arias said. ‘Up to now we have not found any bodies dead or alive.’
The plane was a nine-seat Italian-made Piaggio P180 Avanti, known for its distinctive profile.
The plane disappeared from radar as it was heading to Limon, a resort town on the coast.
The security minister said the flight had set out from Mexico.
This handout picture released by Costa Rica’s Public Security Ministry shows items found during the search of a small plane that crashed off the coast of Costa Rica on the eve, taken in Limon, on October 22, 2022
Wreckage found in the Caribbean Sea near Costa Rica on Saturday could be part of a small plane with five German nationals on board which disappeared the night before, Costa Rican officials said
At least one other of those aboard the plane seemed to be a relative of Schaller, but the relation was not immediately confirmed by authorities
Schaller is listed as ‘Founder, Owner and CEO of the RSG Group,’ a conglomerate of 21 fitness, lifestyle and fashion brands that operates in 48 countries and has 41,000 employees, either directly or through franchises
‘Around six in the afternoon we received an alert about a flight coming from Mexico to the Limon airport, carrying five German passengers,’ Torres said. A search started immediately but was called off temporarily due to bad weather.
Schaller is listed as ‘Founder, Owner and CEO of the RSG Group,’ a conglomerate of 21 fitness, lifestyle and fashion brands that operates in 48 countries and has 41,000 employees, either directly or through franchises.
He was in the news in 2010 for his role as organizer of the Berlin Love Parade techno festival. A crush at the event killed 21 people and injured more than 500. Authorities at the time said Schaller’s security failed to stop the flow of people into a tunnel when the situation was already tense at the entrance to the festival grounds.
Schaller fought back against the accusations of wrongdoing, noting that his security concept received official city approval.
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