Gold’s Gym owner and 5 others feared dead after plane crash off the coast of Costa Rica; authorities have ruled out terrorism
This article is more than 1 year old
This article is more than 1 year old
A plane with at least 40 on board has crashed into the sea off the coast of Costa Rica, killing at least 14 people, including five members of the wealthy Gold’s Gym owner’s family, according to the country’s civil aviation authority. A coastguard spokesman said there were no survivors.
The tragedy claimed three lives aboard the Cessna Caravan, with the owners of the gym being among them, said the civil aviation authority, the Aerocivil de Navegacion Civil, which is investigating the crash.
Rescue workers have searched several feet (meters) into the dark waters for more victims, but authorities have ruled out terrorism.
Five members of the Gold’s Gym owner’s family were on the plane, but his brother was not on board, according to the civil aviation authority’s statement. Four others were from Costa Rica, the country’s health ministry said.
Families are being notified of the deaths, the statement said.
The Civil Aviation Authority said it was taking over the investigation from the police, which was leading the search and rescue activity.
The plane hit the sea about 1,300 metres (4,000 feet) off the coast of the Nicoya peninsula, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) north of San Jose, in the Pacific Ocean.
The flight left from Tiquismundo airport in Quetzals, in the north of the country, on Saturday at 7pm. It was bound for San Jose, with an arrival time of 5pm.
The plane was registered as a Cessna 208 Caravan with an identification code SAX-TU. It had been owned by Julio Cesar Gold’s Gym, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
A member of Julio Cesar Gold’s Gym said his gym’s planes were usually in the air for business or pleasure.
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“The Gold family is from San Jose and always go there and visit family,” the gym member said.
“The Gold family is just not from here. They own the Gold’