An American actor and his two young daughters were killed when a light aircraft smashed into waters off a Caribbean island Thursday, authorities said.
The plane went down shortly after takeoff from the island of Bequia en route to St. Lucia, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said in a statement. Christian Klepser, 51, and his daughters Madita Klepser, 10, and Annik Klepser, 12, were named as the passengers killed in the incident.
Christian Klepser, who used the stage name Christian Oliver, appeared in films including Speed Racer, The Good German, and Valkyrie, NBC News reports.
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Authorities said the plane—registered with the FAA as a Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking—took off from J.F. Mitchell Airport at around 12:11 p.m. local time. “Moments after taking off, the aircraft experienced difficulties and plummeted into the ocean,” the police statement read. Fishermen and divers rushed to the scene on boats in an attempt to help, authorities said, and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard was alerted to the incident.
Coast Guard personnel later recovered four bodies from the aircraft and sea, police say, adding that a medical practitioner pronounced them dead. The fourth person was identified as the plane’s owner and pilot, Robert Sachs of Bequia. All of the bodies were taken to a mortuary in Kingstown, the nation’s capital, where postmortem examinations will determine causes of death.
“The RSVGPF expresses condolences to all who are negatively affected by this tragic incident,” the police statement added. The investigation into the crash remains ongoing.
An unverified video purportedly showing the moment of impact circulated on social media after the crash Thursday. The footage appears to show the aircraft hitting the water at a steep angle. “It sounded like when a vehicle is struggling—you know, stalling, struggling for power to go up a hill,” Danroy Joesph, a local resident, told the St. Vincent Times.
According to online profiles and a company website, pilot Robert “Bob” Sachs attended high school in New Jersey and recently owned a scuba diving center named Dive Bequia. He shared videos expressing pride in his aircraft on his Facebook account last year.
Christian Klepser—who was originally from Frankfurt in Germany—posted a picture of a beach at sunset from “somewhere in paradise” on his Instagram account in the days before the crash. “Let Love Rule,” a caption on the image read. “Wishing all of you the best for 2024!”
