Updated January 01, 2018 17:09:20

Photo: The cause of the crash is still under investigation. (AP: Costa Rica's Civil Aviation press office)

A plane carrying 10 US citizens and two local crewmembers has crashed in a wooded area, killing all on board, Costa Rica's government said.

Enio Cubillo, director of Costa Rica's civil aviation agency, said the Cessna 208B operated by local company Nature Air had crashed minutes after take-off, but officials had not yet determined the cause of the crash.

The Public Safety Ministry posted photographs and video of the crash site showing burning wreckage of the plane in Guanacaste, near the popular tourist beach town of Punta Islita in northwest Costa Rica.

Authorities said Sunday evening they had a list of passengers provided by the airline, but were awaiting official confirmation of their identities.

Photo: The crash site was near the popular beach resort of Punta Islita. (AP: Costa Rica's Public Safety Ministry)

A family in the suburbs of New York City said five of the dead Americans were relatives on vacation.

They identified them as Bruce and Irene Steinberg and their sons Matthew, William and Zachary, all of Scarsdale.

"We are in utter shock and disbelief right now," Bruce Steinberg's sister, Tamara Steinberg Jacobson, wrote on Facebook.

She also confirmed the deaths in an interview with NBC News.

Rabbi Jonathan Blake of the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale said the Steinbergs were involved in philanthropy and local Jewish groups.

"They will be deeply missed," he told the New York Post.

At a news conference, Mr Cubillo said the Nature Air charter flight took off just after noon Sunday from Punta Islita and was headed for the capital of San Jose when it crashed.

Mr Cubillo said the cause was under investigation.

Photo: The plane had passed a safety inspection about a month ago and was authorised to fly. (AP: Costa Rica's Public Safety Ministry)

Laura Chinchilla, who was president of Costa Rica from 2010 to 2014, said on Twitter that her cousin, pilot Juan Manuel Retana, had died in the accident.

The same plane had arrived in Punta Islita on Sunday morning from San Jose and was delayed in landing by strong winds, Cubillo said.

The plane had passed a safety inspection about a month ago and was authorized to fly, Cubillo said.

Nature Air said in a statement that it lamented the accident, without explaining the cause.

AP/Reuters

Topics: air-and-space, costa-rica, united-states

First posted January 01, 2018 17:07:35