Six people, including the German owner behind Gold’s Gym, were presumed dead after a small plane crashed into the Caribbean Sea near the Costa Rican coast on Saturday.
According to Security Minister Jorge Torres, all five passengers were likely German citizens. The pilot of the plane was Swiss. At least one such passenger appeared to be a cousin of Schaller.
Saturday, pieces of the missing twin-engine turboprop aircraft were discovered in the ocean, according to Costa Rican police.
The small charter plane’s flight plan named Rainer Schaller as a passenger. A man with the same name operates multinational fitness and gym franchises, such as Gold’s Gym and McFit. At least one other passenger appeared to be a relative of Schaller, although investigators did not immediately confirm the relationship.
Martn Arias, Costa Rica’s assistant minister of security, stated that no bodies had been discovered at the site, which is located approximately 17 miles (28 kilometers) off the coast of the Limon airport.
“Pieces have been discovered that indicate this is the airplane,” added Arias. We have not yet discovered any bodies, dead or living.
The aircraft was an Italian Piaggio P180 Avanti with nine seats and a striking design.
The aircraft vanished from radar as it approached the coastal tourist town of Limon.
The security minister stated that the flight originated in Mexico.
“Around six in the afternoon, we received an alert concerning a flight carrying five German travelers from Mexico to the Limon airport,” Torres said. A search was initiated immediately but momentarily suspended owing to severe weather.
Rainer Schaller is credited as the “Founder, Owner, and Chief Executive Officer” of the RSG Group, a conglomerate of 21 fitness, lifestyle, and fashion businesses that operates in 48 countries and has 41,000 direct and franchised employees.
Schaller made headlines in 2010 for organizing the Berlin Love Parade techno festival. At the event, a crush killed 21 individuals and injured over 500 others. Authorities claimed at the time that Schaller’s security failed to stem the flow of festivalgoers into a tunnel while tensions were already high at the festival’s entrance.
Schaller pushed back against the claims of impropriety by pointing out that his security plan was officially approved by the city.