On the way from Mexico to an airport in Costa Rica, contact with a private plane breaks off. There are five German passengers on board – including McFit founder Schaller and his family.
According to the authorities, a plane with five German passengers has disappeared off the coast of Costa Rica. The communication with the machine was broken around 6 p.m. local time – i.e. early in the morning at 2 a.m. German time – Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security announced on Facebook.
According to information from “Bild am Sonntag”, McFit founder Rainer Schaller, his girlfriend Christiane Schikorsky and their two children and another man were on board. At the request of the newspaper, a spokeswoman for the McFit operator RSG Group confirmed that Schaller, his partner and their children were in the machine. However, nothing more is known at the moment.
According to the ministry, the plane was on its way from Mexico to Puerto Limón on the Caribbean coast of the Central American country. Investigations had been initiated together with neighboring countries, it said. The machine suddenly lost its connection with the control tower at Barra de Parismina airport, and all measures were immediately taken to locate it, said Public Security Minister Jorge Torres in a video published by his ministry.
Because of the falling night and bad weather, the search was called off after a few hours. It should continue throughout the day.
(This article was first published on Saturday, October 22, 2022.)