winds seen as factor in costa rica plane crash that killed 12
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

According to officials and witnesses.

Winds seen as factor in Costa Rica plane crash that killed 12

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Winds seen as factor in Costa Rica plane crash that killed 12

Strong winds were seen as a factor in the crash of a small plane in Costa Rica.
Punta Islita - Egypt Today

Strong winds were seen as a factor in the crash of a small plane in Costa Rica that killed all 10 US passengers on board and two local crew members, according to officials and witnesses.

The accident, which occurred Sunday in the country's northwestern Guanacaste region popular with tourists seeking pristine tropical beaches, killed all on board the small Cessna 208 Caravan owned and operated by domestic airline Nature Air.

The plane burst into flames on impact, according to rescue officials and locals.

Costa Rica's civil aviation agency said the pilots had tried to land at Punta Islita, a beachside town in Guanacaste, earlier Sunday to get the passengers but aborted because of "the gusts of wind."

The aircraft was up-to-date with its certifications and had been inspected a month earlier, the agency said.

"There had been a lot of wind, really strong," one resident in the area told AFP on Monday.

She said when she and other locals arrived at the crash site, up a steep hillside, "we couldn't see, absolutely everything was black."

She added: "The front part of the plane was all on fire, and the tail part was the only bit intact."

Police and fire crews arrived within 25 minutes of the crash, which happened shortly after midday (1800 GMT), she said.

Another resident, Efrain Rojas, told the newspaper La Nacion that the plane was "too low" after take-off.

"It did a turn to the left. For us, it looked like some sort of problem, and it was trying to get back to the runway. With the turn it did, it had one wing up vertical, and the other hit the trees," he said.

"When we arrived, it was all in flames.... The plane, when it came down, apparently exploded, caught fire," he said.

- Family killed -

The plane came down minutes after taking off from a small sealed airstrip in Punta Islita, where the Americans had boarded.

"We can confirm the death of ten US citizens in an airplane crash in Costa Rica on December 31, 2017," a US State Department official said by email on Monday.

"We express our condolences to all those affected by this tragedy," the official said, adding that consular assistance was being extended.

An American family of five from the town of Scarsdale, a suburb of New York City, was wiped out in the crash, US media reported.

Bruce and Irene Steinberg and their three sons William, Zachary and Matthew were all killed while on a family vacation.

The other US victims were named as Thibault Astruc, Amanda Geissler, Charles Palmer, Leslie Weiss and Sherry Wuu.

The Costa Rican pilot was Juan Manuel Retana, 52. He was the cousin of former Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla, who spoke of their ties on Twitter. His co-pilot was Emma Ramos, also Costa Rican.

Guanacaste is a popular vacation destination, especially this time of year, when US and European tourists arrive in bigger numbers for an end-of-year respite from the northern hemisphere's winter.

- 'Difficult moment' -

The process of recovering the bodies went into late Sunday, and their remains were transported to the capital San Jose on Monday.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis expressed his condolences Sunday in a statement posted to social media.

Solis said his government "gives its commitment to do everything necessary to work with the relatives of the victims to give them what they need in this difficult moment."

Americans are by far the biggest group of tourists visiting Costa Rica, accounting for around 1.3 million arrivals per year in this nation of nearly five million.

Major air accidents are uncommon in Costa Rica.

The last comparable accident dates back to August 26, 2000 when eight foreign tourists and two Costa Rican crew members all died when their small plane crashed into the side of a volcano near San Jose.

Source:AFP

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

winds seen as factor in costa rica plane crash that killed 12 winds seen as factor in costa rica plane crash that killed 12



GMT 09:23 2013 Thursday ,03 January

Haifa Wehbe: No 2012 regrets

GMT 16:55 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

Stylist fashion editor commences role

GMT 21:47 2015 Monday ,31 August

Jack Black stars in new 'Goosebumps' trailer

GMT 08:04 2017 Monday ,30 October

Pakistani bridal brand Élan showcases

GMT 11:57 2018 Thursday ,04 January

Thiem through but more seeds fall at Qatar Open

GMT 08:46 2017 Friday ,07 July

Stella Magazine associate editor

GMT 09:48 2017 Sunday ,22 October

Barcelona roll on calmly amidst Catalan chaos

GMT 08:09 2017 Monday ,27 February

A Useful Guide to Repaint the Exterior of Your Home

GMT 13:41 2017 Saturday ,06 May

Shah Rukh Khan’s Dubai film

GMT 23:20 2017 Wednesday ,08 February

In same sportive look as sibling Gigi

GMT 12:55 2018 Wednesday ,21 November

Bahrain condemns terrorist attack in Afghanistan

GMT 09:17 2018 Monday ,05 November

Edouard Philippe arrives in New Caledonia

GMT 11:20 2018 Friday ,12 October

Young Egyptian woman serves as minister for a day

GMT 10:20 2017 Monday ,29 May

Morocco protest leader arrested

GMT 23:11 2016 Monday ,20 June

Walmart, JD.com announce alliance in China

GMT 11:54 2015 Sunday ,05 July

7 Pakistani troops killed

GMT 00:33 2017 Wednesday ,01 February

Welcome back, Oman!

GMT 11:01 2017 Saturday ,25 February

Spain to cull 17,000 ducks as bird flu hits

GMT 17:40 2014 Monday ,22 September

5 memory strategies for learning anything fast
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday