Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking Down off Bequia, 4 Dead

[PHXPhlyer]

Christian Klepser, Actor and 2 Daughters plus Pilot, Dead in Crash off Bequia, which is part of St. Vincent

Horrifying moment plane nose dives and crashes into the sea off Caribbean island killing all four on board including American tourist, 51, and two daughters, 10, and, 12

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... crash.html

Link has pics and video of crash.

The horrifying moment when a small aircraft plunged into the sea, killing an American actor, his two pre-teen daughters and the pilot, off of a tiny Caribbean island was caught on video.

The tragedy occurred Thursday in the waters off Bequia, which is part of St. Vincent, around noon.

In one video circulating on social media, a person recording can be heard saying: 'The plane crashed! Call the Coast Guard!'

The victims have been named by the local police as Christian Klepser, 55, his daughters, Madita, 10, and Annik, 12. The pilot was Robert Sachs. He also owned the plane involved. The family arrived in the area on December 26.

Klepser was a German born actor who went by the stage name Christian Oliver. He appeared in major movies such as Speed Racer and Valkyrie. Among his first roles in the US was a long-standing stint on Saved by the Bell: The New Class in 1995.

The group were en route to St. Lucia when the crash occurred, authorities said. Moments after taking off from JF Mitchell Airport in Bequia, the plane got into unspecified difficulties.

After the crash, the plane can be seen bobbing in the water. Local fishermen and divers descended on the scene in order to help with the rescue effort

Robert Sachs' Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking shown here in a post on Facebook
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Robert Sachs' Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking shown here in a post on Facebook

Local fishermen and recreational swimmers who were in the area helped in the initial search, police said in a statement. The depth of the water is thought to be around 70 feet.

St. Vincent-based news outlet Searchlight reports that Sachs radioed the tower shortly after takeoff to tell them he was experiencing trouble and was turning back. That was the last communication.

In an interview with local media outlet iWitness News, a local fisherman criticized the coast guard's response to the tragedy.

'We explained to them that the tide was now starting to run so if you left it (the wreckage) there, it was a (possibility) that we wouldn’t find the plane again, that it would drift off,' he said.

He added that the tide's trajectory would have taken the plane to open water. Using ropes and a buoy to mark the location, the fishermen took the decision to retrieve the bodies themselves.

While another official told the outlet that the coast guard should have kept personnel in the area until the wreckage was fully recovered.

The unnamed fisherman said that he was close to the area where the plane impacted the water and arrived at the scene as it sank to the seabed.

When the coast guard arrived, the fisherman said that they were told to wait for official divers to arrive before the bodies could be retrieved.

Local fishermen and recreational swimmers who were in the area helped in the initial search, police said in a statement

Bequia, 5-mile long, half-mile wide island that¿s part of the Caribbean¿s St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is a magnet for the yachts often dotting Admiralty Bay

Cornell Campbell, who witnessed the crash, told iWitness that the plane drew is attention because of the 'sound of the plane, the engine, the propeller.'

'Everything shut off the first time. So, I told my friend, "That plane is going to crash." But the plane kicked up back again like it built up back a power,' he said.

Campbell explained that the plane regained power but had lost altitude during the initial failure. As the pilot attempted to correct the dive, the power appeared to go again and it 'just dived down.'

"But when it sinking, something went "Bouff!" in the water and that is why I said it exploded. So that is the only thing I heard when the plane was sinking. It went "Bouff!" under the water,' Campbell said.

Another witness, Tyrone Durham, a retired coast guard officer described his view of what happened to iWitness.

'It seems as though the power cut out or the engine failed and then I came out from under the tree and looked at the plane. It seems as though it was turning to head back to the airport but then with the wind, because I don’t think it had reached the [cruising] altitude so it was apparently going back to the airport,' he said.

'That’s when the wind took control of it and it came down and plunged into the water.'

According to his LinkedIn page, Sachs operated a diving business in Bequia alongside his wife, Cathy. He was a native of Springfield, New Jersey, who had been living in the Caribbean for close to 40 years.

One unnamed witness told iWitness that Sachs had taught him how to scuba dive around five years ago. He also used to work for the pilot calling him a 'good friend, close to the family.

The cause of the plane crash remains under investigation.

PP

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Looks like a 70 degree dive at impact.
Descriptions match a stall during a turn back.