Plane crash kills 10 American citizens in Costa Rica
2 Costa Rican pilots also killed after plane crashed and burst into flames
San Jose, Jan. 1: Ten Americans flying from a vacation hotspot on Costa Rica’s tropical Pacific coast died on Sunday when the small plane they had just boarded crashed and burst into flames shortly after take- off, officials in the country said.
A list of the passengers given by local media showed five shared the same last name, suggesting they were related.
“The government of Costa Rica profoundly regrets the deaths of 10 US passengers and two Costa Rican pilots in the air accident,” which occurred in the country’s northwestern Guanacaste region, Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said in a statement posted to social media.
A US state department official said, “We confirm the deaths of multiple US citizens in an airplane crash in Costa Rica,” adding that assistance was being provided to the affected Americans.
Costa Rican officials said the plane that came down belonged to Nature Air, a domestic airline that services routes across the country and also provides aircraft for charter.
Americans are by far the biggest group of tourists visiting Costa Rica.
The plane that crashed was a single- engine turboprop Cessna 208 Caravan.
Its flaming debris was scattered across a wooded mountain close to the beach town of Punta Islita.
The cause of the crash was unknown. Solis said in his statement that his government “gives its commitment to do everything necessary to work with the relatives of the victims to give them what they need in this difficult moment.”
The process of recovering the bodies continued into the night
The Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion gave the names of the 10 passengers as, Thibault Astruc, Amanda Geissler, Charles Palmer, Bruce Steinberg, Irene Steinberg, Matthew Steinberg, William Steinberg, Zachary Steinberg, Leslie Weiss and Sherry Wuu.
The two pilots were identified as Juan Manuel Retana Chinchilla and Emma Ramos.
Former Costa Rican president Laura Chincilla — Solis’s predecessor — said on Twitter that Retana, 52, was her cousin. “You will remain in our hearts, dear Juan Manuel Retana,” she wrote.