The Steinberg family, who died in the plane crash of Corozalito de Nandayure, had visited Costa Rica before.
Olga Villatoro, the nanny of this American family for more than 15 years, revealed that the Steinbergs decided to return to Costa Rica because they loved it. The woman revealed that she learned of the fatal accident on Sunday, when a family member of the victims called her.
The boys were respectful, kind, studious and very intelligent. They liked sports. They played basketball. Sometimes I would go out and play with them too,”
said the woman.
Irene (51), Bruce (50), Zachary (19), William (18), and Matthew (13) were part of the passengers of the TI-BEI plane operated by Nature Air, which fatally plunged in Bejuco Hill, in Nandayure of Guanacaste.
The aircraft left Punta Islita for the Juan Santamaría international airport. However, at about 11:10 am, it fell down after takeoff. The Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) investigates two possible causes: strong winds or mechanical failure.
The damaged plane was a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, which had been in the country for 1 month and had passed all the necessary operational controls to fly. It did not have any previous problems and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) said on Sunday that everything was in order.
In the accident, other five Americans died, as well as the Costa Rican pilot and co-pilot.
Official list of victims, according to OIJ and Nature Air:
Bruce Michael Steinberg (50 years old).
Matthew Benjamin Steinberg (13 years old).
William Aaron Steinberg (18 years old).
Zachary Justin Steinberg (17 years old).
Irene Steinberg (51 years old).
Ari Moses Weiss (16 years old).
Hannah Mae Weiss (19 years old).
Leslie Levin Weiss (49 years old).
Mitchell Weiss (52 years old).
Amanda Rae Geissler (33 years old).
Juan Manuel Retana Chinchilla (52 years old).
Emma Ramos Calderón (33 years old).