Enio Cubillo, director of Civil Aviation and Michael Soto, Chief of Plans and Operations of the Judicial Police in Costa Rica have stated that three elements are being considered as possible causes of the light aircraft crash that occurred on Sunday, December 31 in the mountains of Nandayure, Guanacaste: weather conditions, mechanical problems and human error.
“We are not ruling out anything”, stated Soto in a press conference held on January 2.

Part of the investigation includes the information recovered from the scene, data on traditional flight routes and interviews with other pilots, witnesses and experts regarding the conditions of this area and specifically the conditions at the time of the accident.

It has been stated that the pilot, Juan Manuel Retana, had over 15000 hours and 20 years of experience and the aircraft had just undergone an inspection a month back and had all the permits and documents in order.

According to information published by local media Telenoticias, the Meteorological Institute in Costa Rica has ruled out the existence of any particular phenomenon that could have significantly affected the winds and weather conditions last Sunday; according to the information registered in the closest station they operate which is located in Liberia, the winds at the hour the accident occurred were of under 30 kph, normal for the time of the year, considering that this station is at a distance of close to 100 km from the area of the accident, Civil Aviation estimates that the winds in the area could have reached 45 kph.

The runway in Punta Islita is 900 meters long and at sea level, Everardo Carmona, a Costa Rican pilot, stated in an interview with Telenoticias “I consider Punta Islita a very secure airport, its 900 meters long, 8 months out of the year it has calm winds, and the other 4 months (November-February) we fly with stronger winds, but it’s normal, the windy conditions are normal here”.

The fact that other aircrafts took off that same day with no problem including another aircraft just minutes before the one that suffered the accident, point to the fact that weather may have not been what caused the tragedy, but the possibility has not been ruled out.

The engine of the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan of the company Nature Air will be checked by experts in Canada, confirmed Cubillo, who added that the part had been recovered at the scene and will be sent to the manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) for its analysis.

Authorities still don’t have a time estimate on when the results of the investigation will be ready.

The tragic accident caused the death of 10 U.S. tourists, Bruce Steinberg (50 years old and a Senior Investor at Bridgewater), his wife Irene (51) and their sons William (18) Matthew (14) and Zachary (20) from New York; Leslie (50) and Mitchell Weiss (52) both physicians and their son Ari (16) and daughter Hannah (19) from Florida; the last victim was Amanda Rae Geissler (33 years of age and a tour guide). The pilot Juan Manuel Retana (52) and copilot Emma Ramos Calderon (26) both Costa Rican, also died.