Hollywood actor Christian Oliver, 51, who appeared in Speed Racer, is revealed as victim of Caribbean plane crash that also killed his daughters, aged 10 and 12, and pilot
An American actor tragically died along with his two daughters, aged 10 and 12, when their plane nose dived and crashed into the waters off a small Caribbean island.
Christian Klepser, 51, who went by the stage name Christian Oliver, was confirmed killed in the accident, along with his children, Madita and Annik. The plane’s pilot, Robert Sachs, was also killed.
During his career, Klepser has appeared in major films like Speed Racer and Valkyrie and recently had a role in the latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise.
One of his first roles in the US was a lengthy stint in Saved by the Bell: The New Class in 1995. He also appeared as a character in the popular video game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.
The tragedy occurred around noon on Thursday in the waters off Bequia, which is part of St. Vincent.
Oliver pictured with his ex-wife, Jessica Muroz, and their two daughters in March 2015
Oliver, seen here with screen legend Al Pacino in 2020, had over 60 credits on the IMDb page
A few seconds into a social media clip circulating online, you see the plane flying towards the water at high speed
A huge splash occurs as all four on board are killed by the impact
After the crash, the plane can be seen floating in the water. Local fishermen and divers arrived on the scene to assist in the rescue effort
Robert Sachs’ Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking shown here in a Facebook post
Oliver will appear in the upcoming film Forever Hold Your Peace, which he also produced, and on December 20 he just filmed his final scenes.
The director of his latest film, Nick Lyon, paid tribute to Oliver, posting a photo on their last day of filming with the caption: ‘We’ve talked about producing a film together for years, and it finally happened! Thank you for being a great colleague, actor and friend.”
According to local reports, he arrived in the Caribbean with his daughters on December 26.
Two days before his death, Oliver posted a photo of a beach in a tropical setting with the caption: “Let love rule. I wish you all the best for 2024.”
Oliver’s ex-wife, Jessica Muroz, previously worked as a showbiz reporter from LA for German media.
Online records show that the actor filed for divorce from his wife in December 2021.
After the release of 2008’s Speed Racer, in which he played one of the antagonists, Snake Oiler, talked about finally able to afford a Harley-Davidson and bought a 1972 Buick Centurion around the same time.
“(They were) part of my American dream, of what we Europeans and what I grew up with: the wide open spaces and the freedom. And that is what this beautiful machine still means to me.;
Oliver pictured alongside Cate Blanchett in 2006’s The Good German
In one video of the tragic crash, a recording of a person can be heard saying, “The plane has crashed! Call the Coast Guard!’
The group was en route to St. Lucia when the crash occurred, authorities said. Shortly after takeoff from JF Mitchell Airport in Bequia, the plane encountered unspecified problems.
Local fishermen and recreational swimmers who were in the area assisted in the initial search, police said in a statement. The depth of the water is believed to be about 70 feet.
News broadcast from St. Vincent Searchlight reports that Sachs radioed the tower shortly after takeoff to tell them he was experiencing trouble and was returning. That was the last communication.
In an interview with local media 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 turn, so if you left it (the wreckage) there, there was a (possibility) that we would not find the plane again, that it would drift away,” he said.
He added that the trajectory of the tide would have taken the plane into open water. Using ropes and a buoy to mark the location, the fishermen made the decision to retrieve the bodies themselves.
While another official told the channel that the coast guard should have kept personnel in the area until the wreckage was fully recovered.
The unnamed fisherman said he was close to the area where the plane entered the water and arrived on the scene as it sank to the seabed.
When the coast guard arrived, the fisherman said they had to wait for official divers to arrive before the bodies could be retrieved.
Local fishermen and recreational swimmers who were in the area assisted 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, a five-mile-long and half-mile-wide island that is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, is a magnet for the yachts that often berth in Admiralty Bay
Cornell Campbell, who witnessed the crash, told iWitness that the plane attracted attention because of the “noise of the plane, the engine, the propeller.”
‘Everything fell out the first time. So I said to my friend, “That plane is going to crash.” But the plane shot back up, as if building power again,” he said.
Campbell explained that the aircraft regained power but had lost altitude during the initial failure. When the pilot attempted to correct the dive, the power appeared to fail again and he “just dived down.”
“But when it sank, something went ‘Bouff!’ in the water and that’s why I said it blew up. So that’s all I heard when the plane sank. It went ‘Bouff!’ underwater,’ Campbell said.
Another witness, Tyrone Durham, a retired Coast Guard officer, described his view of what happened to iWitness.
“It seems like the power went out or the engine died and then I came out from under the tree and looked at the plane. It looks like he turned around to return to the airport, but downwind, because I don’t think he reached the border. [cruising] altitude, so apparently it was going back to the airport,” he said.
“Then the wind got control of it and it came down and crashed into the water.”
According to his LinkedIn page, Sachs operated a diving business in Bequia with his wife Cathy. He was from Springfield, New Jersey and had lived in the Caribbean for almost forty years.
An unnamed witness told iWitness that Sachs taught him to dive about five years ago. He also worked for the pilot and called him a “good friend, close to the family.”
The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation.