Breaking News: American Family Of 5 Among 12 Killed In Costa Rica Plane Crash

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A family of 5 Americans who were vacationing in Costa Rica was among the victims of a New Year’s Eve plane crash, that killed all 12 people on board, investigators and local media have confirmed.

The small plane which was carrying 10 American tourists and two local crew members crashed and burst into flames in a wooded area in Guanacaste, northwest Costa Rica, the government reported Sunday.

Five of the victims were identified as Americans Bruce, Irene, Matthew, William and Zachary Steinberg, Diario Las Americas reported.

Reports said that the family was from Scarsdale, N.Y.

Other victims were identified by Costa Rica Hoy as Thibault Astruc, Amanda Geissler, Charles Palmer, Leslie Weiss, Sherry Wuu and pilots Emma Ramos and Juan Manuel Retana.

The Central American nation’s Public Safety Ministry posted photographs and video of the crash site which showed burning wreckage. All that was left of the plane was a charred, smoldering mass of fiery debris.

The plane had reportedly taken off from a local runway and was heading to the Juan Santamaria International Airport.

The Costa Rica Star reported that the Nature Air aircraft had problems shortly after takeoff, crashed in the mountains and then immediately caught fire, according to witnesses.

Rescue teams could not arrive at the scene very quickly because it was in a remote area. Officers in the area said that nobody survived the crash.

Retana, one of the pilots, was a cousin of Costa Rica’s former President Laura Chinchilla, Diario Las Americas added.