An American actor died tragically alongside his two daughters, ages 10 and 12, as their plane nose dived and crashed into the waters off of a small Caribbean island.
Christian Klepser, 51, who went by the stage name Christian Oliver, was confirmed to have been killed in the accident, along side his children, Madita and Annik. The plane’s pilot, Robert Sachs, was also killed.
During his career, Klepser appeared in major movies such as Speed Racer and Valkyrie and recently had a part in the latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise.
Among his first roles in the US was a long-standing stint on Saved by the Bell: The New Class in 1995. He also appeared as a character in the hit video game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.
The tragedy occurred Thursday in the waters off Bequia, which is part of St. Vincent, around noon.
Oliver pictured with his ex-wife, Jessica Muroz, and their two daughters in March 2015
Oliver, shown here with screen legend Al Pacino in 2020, had over 60 credits on IMDb page
A few seconds into a social media clip that is circulating online, the plane can be seen speeding towards the water
A massive splash occurs as all four on board are killed by the impact
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
Oliver will appear in the upcoming movie Forever Hold Your Peace, which he also produced, and just filmed his last scenes on December 20.
The director of his latest movie, Nick Lyon, paid tribute to Oliver, posting a picture on their last day of filming saying: ‘We talked about producing a film together for years and finally did it! Thank you for being a great colleague, actor and friend.’
According to local reports, he arrived with his daughters in the Caribbean on December 26.
Two days before his death, Oliver posted a photo showing a beach in a tropical setting with the caption: ‘Let love rule. Wishing all of you the best for 2024.’
Oliver’s former wife, Jessica Muroz, previously worked as an LA-based showbiz reporter for German media.
Online records show that the actor filed for divorce from his wife in December 2021.
Following the release of 2008’s Speed Racer, in which he played one of the antagonists, Snake Oiler, he spoke about finally being able to afford a Harley-Davidson and buying a 1972 Buick Centurion around the same time.
‘(They were) part of my American dream, what we Europeans and what I grew up imagining: the great wide open spaces and freedom. And that’s what this beautiful machinery still means to me.;
Oliver pictured alongside Cate Blanchett in 2006’s The Good German
In one video of the tragic crash, a person recording can be heard saying: ‘The plane crashed! Call the Coast Guard!’
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.
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
Rescue crews are shown recovering the bodies of the deceased in the moments after the crash
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.
