VACATION HORROR
Scarsdale family among 12 killed in Costa Rica air crash
A SCARSDALE family of five on vacation in Costa Rica were among a dozen people killed when their small plane crashed in the woods along the country’s Pacific coast Sunday afternoon.
Bruce Steinberg, 50; his 51-yearold wife, Irene; and their children — Matthew, William and Zachary — along with five other American tourists and two crew members died when the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan went down, officials said.
Distraught family members were in disbelief over the New Year’s Eve tragedy.
“They were wonderful people. We need a whole world of people like them,” said relative Dianne Steinberg, 76, before quickly hanging up.
Bruce Steinberg worked as a lawyer, and his wife has been active with the Scarsdale Women’s Philanthropy group.
A neighbor on the tree-lined street in the ritzy Westchester County town also struggled with the senseless tragedy.
“They were sweet, wonderful people. Each one of them,” he said, declining to give his name. “They were deeply involved with our community. And so everyone, our entire community, is mourning this loss.”
Another couple and their daughter — Mitchell Weiss, 52, his wife, Leslie, 50, and 19-year-old Hannah — from Belleair, Fla., near Clearwater, were killed. The other Americans who died were Amanda Geissler and Gene Szeto.
“It’s a tragic loss,” said Rabbi Jacob Luski of Congregation B’Nai Israel, where the Weiss family attended.
The parents, both physicians, were active participants of the community, he added.
“I just saw the mom and the daughter last week after Friday evening services,” Luski said. “They will be sorely missed. It’s a real tragedy for their families and the community at large.”
Enio Cubillo, director of Costa Rica Civil Aviation, said the Nature Air charter flight took off just after noon from the resort town of Punta Islita on the Pacific coast and was headed for the Central American nation’s capital of San Jose when it crashed in a wooded area, killing all on board.
“The government of Costa Rica deeply regrets the death of 10 American passengers and two Costa Rican pilots,” President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera said in a statement.
Video posted by the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Security shows the Nature Air plane downed and engulfed in flames not far from Punta Islita in Guanacaste province.
The State Department confirmed the deaths in a statement to the Daily News on Sunday evening.
“We express our condolences to all those affected by this tragedy. We are in contact with Costa Rican aviation authorities and will continue to monitor the situation,” a spokesman said.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, the plane typically seats between 10 and 14 people. No cause for the crash was announced.
Former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla announced on Twitter that her cousin, Juan Manuel Retana, was a pilot on the flight.