Entire Jewish family among 12 killed in Costa Rica plane crash

The Steinberg family were among the 12 tragically killed in a plane crash in Costa Rica. 

By: AP and World Israel News Staff

A plane carrying 10 US citizens and two local crewmembers crashed in a wooded area, killing all aboard Sunday, Costa Rica’s government said.

Five of the victims were identified as American Jews Bruce and Irene Steinberg and their sons Matthew, William and Zachary, from Scarsdale, New York.

“We are in utter shock and disbelief right now,” Bruce Steinberg’s sister, Tamara Steinberg Jacobson, wrote on Facebook. She also confirmed the deaths in an interview with NBC News.

Rabbi Jonathan Blake of the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale said in a statement posted on the temple’s Facebook page and sent in an email to the AP that the Steinbergs were involved in philanthropy and local Jewish groups.

“This tragedy hits our community very hard,” Blake wrote.

The Public Safety Ministry posted photographs and video of the crash site showing burning wreckage of the plane in Guanacaste, northwest Costa Rica.

At a news conference, Enio Cubillo, director of Costa Rica Civil Aviation, said the Nature Air charter flight took off just after noon Sunday from Punta Islita and was headed for the capital of San Jose when it crashed.

Cubillo said the cause was under investigation.