QCOSTARICA – Why did the aircraft suddenly crash after a relatively normal flight? What of the six people aboard? Who do the two recovered bodies belong to?
Costa Rican authorities still do not have an answer to these and other questions related to the crash last Friday, October 21, over the Caribbean waters of the nine-seat Italian-made Piaggio P180 Avanti, that a family German businessman behind Gold’s Gym and the pilot were traveling in.
All five passengers were believed to be German citizens. Four of the passengers were Gold’s Gym CEO Rainer Schaller, his partner Christiane Schikorsky and their two minor children, the fifth passenger appeared to be a relative of Schaller, the pilot was identified by his last name Lis, a Swiss national.
Search and rescue operations recovered two bodies (whose identity has yet to be made public_ and some pieces of luggage and plane wreckage. The plane, traveling from Mexico, lost contact with a control tower, went down some 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the Limon airport.
Despite the operations of the Costa Rican police forces and the communication with the authorities of Panama and the United States, authorities have still not been able to resolve some of the core issues of this tragedy.
It’s been a week since the plane went down. The search in the area continues, journalists from all over the world focus on Costa Rica and the investigations around this case begin to involve different countries.
Costa Rica’s Ministry of Security (MSP), reported that the pilot did not issue any alert before the fall.
Due to this, doubt persists about the reason for the crash of the luxurious aircraft, designed for short and efficient flights.
The investigation is in charge of the Dirección Nacional de Aviación Civil (DGAV) – Civil Aviation, and the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) in relation to the bodies that are recovered.
According to the director general of Civil Aviation, Fernando Naranjo, now a team made up of representatives of the DGAV and representatives of Germany will prepare a report on the findings and the possibility of continuing or not with the investigation.
