The parent company of Gold’s Gym confirmed that CEO Rainer Schaller, his family, and his friends were aboard a plane that is believed to have crashed off the coast of Costa Rica.
The company known as The Rainer Schaller Group (RSG) did not comment on if Schaller is believed to be alive in its statement.
“We are shocked, stunned, and full of grief about this tragic accident,” the RSG statement read, according to AP News. “The news during the last few days has shaken us deeply, and our thoughts are with the family in these difficult hours… As the situation is currently still being investigated on-site, we cannot comment further at this time and ask for your understanding.”
The RSG Group claims that the bodies of one adult and one child have been recovered. Also, recovered so far have been luggage and pieces of the twin-engine turboprop aircraft from the sea by Costa Rican authorities. Neither person from the crash has been identified. The plane went missing on Oct. 21 and was located on Oct. 22 in a location 17 miles from Limon airport.
“The plane was a nine-seat Italian-made Piaggio P180 Avanti, which lost communication with the control tower near Barra de Parismina close to Limon around 6 p.m.” reports The New York Post. The plane was supposed to be en route to Mexico and the search had to be suspended overnight because of the weather.
The RSG Group is a collection of 21 companies in the fitness, lifestyle, and fashion industry. They include McFit, John Reed, and Gold’s Gym. The conglomerate operates in 48 countries and employs more than 40,000 people directly or through its franchises. McFit is the largest gym chain in Germany and also operates in Austria, Italy, Poland, and Spain.
Schaller acquired Gold’s Gym after it filed for bankruptcy in 2020. In an announcement, Rainer called the California-based chain an inspiration. Schaller loved the fitness industry. He was a retail salesman who opened his first gym in 1997 in Würzburg, Germany.
“Gold’s Gym is a fitness institution that had a major influence on the industry’s development,” he said. “I am incredibly proud that, in partnership with their current leadership team, we will be able to breathe new life into this iconic brand under the umbrella of the RSG Group.”
Rainer Schiller is 53 years old. He and his partner, Christiane Schikorsky, have two children.
The search to find the four other people aboard the plane is ongoing.
