Costa Rican, U.S. citizen die after small plane crash in Pavas

A Costa Rican woman and a U.S. man have died from the injuries they sustained when a small plane crashed in San José early Tuesday morning, according to the daily La Nación. The pilot and three surviving passengers have all been hospitalized.

The light aircraft was heading from the capital to to the northwestern coastal town of Tamarindo when it apparently lost control for reasons that have not yet become clear and came down in a river ravine near Tobías Bolaños Airport in Pavas, the flight’s point of origin, minutes after takeoff.

La Nación reported that a Costa Rican woman died near the crash, and a U.S. citizen who was also a nationalized Costa Rican died at the Calderón Guardia Hospital at 12:30 pm. The Costa Rican woman who died at the crash site was identified as María Elena Umaña Chacón, 54; the U.S. man who died later at the hospital was identified was Randall Lindner. The pilot has been identified as Cristian Méndez Acuña, 60, and the remaining passengers as Alejandro Cardona, Esteban Cubero, and Keith Putbrese.

The surviving passengers and Costa Rican pilot were rescued in an operation that required emergency workers cutting through vegetation to get to the deep river bed where the plane crashed. The four surviving passengers are all hospitalized, one in serious condition and the others with multiple traumas, La Nación reported.

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