Costa Rica plane crash: Golds Gym tycoon Rainer Schaller feared dead as bodies found

A search is underway for a German tycoon after a private plane he was traveling in crashed about 17 miles from the airport in Limon, Costa Rica. 

The businessman, 53-year-old fitness entrepreneur Rainer Schaller, was flying with members of his family.

According to reports, the plane was traveling from Mexico when it went missing Friday night. 

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“Around six in the afternoon we received an alert about a flight coming from Mexico to the Limon airport, carrying five German passengers,” Jorge Torres, the Costa Rican security minister, explained.

The director of the Civil Aviation Authority, Fernando Naranjo, told the Teletica television channel: “The plane disappeared from radar about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Limon airport. The plane was supposed to land at 6:58 p.m., we lost it at an altitude of 2,000 feet (60 meters).”

A search operation was initiated but due to bad weather, it was temporarily suspended.

Schaller’s business, RSG Group, is the parent company of the Gold’s Gym brand, which it acquired in 2020.

The Costa Rican Coast Guard told TMZ that two bodies and several pieces of wreckage and personal belongings were located near the crash scene. 

While there is no confirmation, officials suspect that all five passengers and the pilot died in the accident. 

Schaller’s partner Christiane Schikorsky, their children, and a fitness instructor were on board the twin-engine Italian-made Piaggio P180 Avanti turboprop aircraft.

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A search operation is currently underway to find the victims of the crash. 

“Pieces have been found that indicate that this is the aircraft. Up to now, we have not found any bodies dead or alive,” Costa Rica’s assistant security minister, Martin Arias, confirmed.

Schaller founded the McFit fitness club chain in 1996, which now has hundreds of branches in Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland, and Spain.