Around the nation
N.Y. town mourns family killed in plane crash
SCARSDALE – Shortly after the Steinberg family from Scarsdale died in a plane crash in Costa Rica, their family and friends spent New Year’s Day under a pall of unthinkable grief and sorrow.
Remembered as an idyllic and loving family, Irene and Bruce Steinberg and their sons Matthew, William and Zachary were killed along with seven others when the small aircraft crashed Sunday in Punta Islita, a mountainous region in the Costa Rican province of Guanacaste, popular among tourists.
Bruce’s mother, Dianne, struggled to find words to describe the tragedy. Speaking by telephone Monday, she often paused and fought back tears that seemed to well up with each memory of her grandchildren and their parents.
“This was a wonderful family, and really it’s a loss not just for our family but for the whole community,” she said, recounting Bruce and Irene Steinberg’s outreach through many different community groups.
Costa Rican investigators are trying to determine the cause of the crash, but it was most likely the result of strong winds or mechanical problems. It happened about 140 miles from the capital of San Jose.
Civil Aviation Director Enio Cubillo said U.S. aviation officials and representatives from Cessna, the maker of the plane, would collaborate with Costa Rica on the investigation, the Associated Press reported. No one survived the crash, and the bodies were recovered from the site Sunday night.
“No possibility can be left out for certain,” said Michael Soto, deputy director of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation agency. “We have two aspects: The principal one would be some weather condition and if there was a mechanical issue.”
The Steinbergs took the Nature Air charter flight with a family of four from Florida as part of a tour organized by Backroads, a California-based company. The Florida victims were identified as Mitchell and Leslie Weiss of Belleaire, Fla., and their two children, Hannah and Ari.
The others killed were the Backroads tour leader, Amanda Geissler, from Wisconsin; the pilot, Juan Manuel Retana; and co-pilot, Emma Ramos, both of Costa Rica.
The Steinbergs were members of the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale.
“This tragedy hits our community very hard,” Rabbi Jonathan Blake said on Facebook.