Gold's Gym Owner Rainer Schaller, Family Aboard Plane That Crashed in Costa Rica, Company Confirms

Jason Duaine Hahn
·2 min read
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22 May 2018, Germany, Duesseldorf: Rainer Schaller, owner at the time of the Loveparade event organizer Lopavent, sitting in the courtroom of the branch of the Duisburg district court. The Loveparade trial is being continued here. 21 young people lost their lives in a stampede at the techno-parade on 24 July 2010 in Duisburg. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa (Photo by Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance via Getty

German businessman Rainer Schaller, whose investment group acquired iconic fitness company Gold's Gym in 2020, was among the passengers of a plane that crashed in Costa Rica over the weekend, his company confirmed.

"We can confirm that Rainer Schaller, his family, and two other people were on board the aircraft at the time of the crash. As the situation is currently still being investigated on-site, we cannot comment further at this time and ask for your understanding," Schaller's company, RSG Group, said in a statement published in part by Entrepreneur and the Associated Press.

Per the AP, while the company did not confirm the death of Schaller or his family, two bodies have been found by search teams thus far, with no reports of survivors.

"We are shocked, stunned, and full of grief about this tragic accident," RSG Group's statement said, according to AP. "The news during the last few days has shaken us deeply, and our thoughts are with the family in these difficult hours."

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PEOPLE reached out to RSG Group for comment Monday afternoon.

In a post to social media on Friday, the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Security said a plane headed from Mexico to Costa Rica lost contact with Juan Santamaria International Airport's control tower around 8 p.m. ET.

The aircraft had been flying over the Parismina area in the Costa Rican Caribbean, the organization said.

CNN reported that Schaller's partner, Christiane Schikorsky, and two minors were among those listed on the flight manifest.

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An AP report on Sunday said the ministry had found the bodies of one adult and one child. Search teams had also recovered backpacks, bags, and pieces of the plane.

The plane was a nine-seat Italian-made Piaggio P180 Avanti. According to CNN, the Red Cross was asked to help in search efforts.

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Along with Gold's Gym, RSG Group owns a collection of fitness brands, including McFit and Cyberobics, according to its website. They acquired Gold's Gym in July 2020.

"Gold's Gym is a fitness institution that had a major influence on the industry's development," Schaller said in a press release at the time, in part. "I am incredibly proud that, in partnership with their current leadership team, we will be able to breathe new life into this iconic brand under the umbrella of the RSG Group."

Schaller is listed as the company's founder, owner and CEO, and began his career by training as a retail salesman "before opening his first gym in Würzburg, Germany in 1997."