Rainer Schaller, owner of RSG Group, which includes McFit, John Reed and Gold’s Gym fitness studios, and his family were among the six people aboard a private plane that crashed off the coast of Costa Rica, RSG Group said in a statement Monday.
According to Costa Rican authorities, the private plane was headed toward Limon, Costa Rica, from Mexico on Friday.
The German entrepreneur was traveling with his partner, Christiane Schikorsky and their two children, according to the statement from RSG Group. Two other people, including the pilot, were also on board, the company said.
The statement read: “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.”
RSG Group did not confirm the death of Schaller or his family. Two bodies, an unidentified man and a child, have been found by search teams, with no reports of survivors.
“We are shocked, stunned and full of grief about this tragic accident,” RSG Group’s statement said. “The news during the last few days has shaken us deeply, and our thoughts are with the family in these difficult hours.”
The plane lost contact with the air control tower at Juan Santamaría Airport around 6 p.m. local time while flying over the Parismina area along the East coast of Costa Rica, the Ministry of Public Service said. Rescue crews located the plane early Saturday, and the search for other passengers continued Monday..
In 2020, RSG Group won an auction to acquire Gold’s Gym International, Inc. out of bankruptcy for $100 million. Schaller said Gold’s Gym had been a source of inspiration when he opened his first McFit studio in Würzburg, Germany in 1997.
McFit fitness clubs now have more than 250 locations in Germany, Austria, Poland, Spain, and Italy, according to the company’s website.
