German-born Hollywood star Christian Klepser, 51, better known as Christian Oliver, perished along with his two young daughters -- Annik, 12, and Madita, 10 -- and the pilot when a small plane they were flying in crashed in the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, the Daily Mail reported.
Oliver and his daughters had just taken off from the airport on the island of Bequia, part of the St. Vincent and Grenadines chain, and were en route to St. Lucia to catch a flight back to the United States after a holiday vacation.
The small plane, a propeller-driven single-engine Belanca Viking 300, was owned and piloted by Robert Sachs, who also ran a diving business on Bequia and died along with his passengers when the aircraft reportedly lost power and nose-dived into the water shortly after takeoff.
Local media outlet Searchlight reported that Sachs had radioed the control tower almost immediately after leaving the airport to inform them of unspecified "difficulties" and that he was turning the aircraft around to return and land, but no further radio transmissions were received and the small plane never returned.
Instead, locals in the area reported hearing the aircraft's engine cut in and out and watched as it lost altitude and struggled to recover, ultimately nose-diving into the water.
Christian Oliver, along with his two daughters, has died in a plane crash.
RIP pic.twitter.com/19HMTUGPV1
— Real Life Footage (@RealLifeCapture) January 6, 2024
Local media outlet iWitness reported that local fishermen and recreational divers were the first to arrive at the spot where the plane went down -- some of those locals sharply criticized the St. Vincent-Grenadines Coast Guard for its slow reaction time of nearly two hours -- and worked voluntarily to secure the wreckage and recover the bodies.
The bodies were eventually handed over to the Coast Guard once they had finally arrived on the scene and they were transported back to St. Vincent to undergo post-mortem examinations at a mortuary to determine the cause of death.
SVG Police said in a statement, "The aircraft went airborne from the J.F. Mitchell Airport in Paget Farm about 12:11 p.m. for St. Lucia as its final destination. Moments after taking off, the aircraft experienced difficulties and plummeted into the ocean."
"Fishermen and divers from Paget Farm went to the scene of the incident in their boats to render assistance. The SVG Coast Guard was informed and quickly traveled to Paget Farm, Bequia to lead in the rescue efforts," the police added.
According to Oliver's IMDb page, he was credited with 62 appearances as an actor, most notably in 2023's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," 2008's "Speed Racer," and 2006's "The Good German."
His Hollywood career began in 1994 with a recurring role in "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" and went on to appear in dozens of films and TV series while also doing voiceover work in several video games.
The Daily Mail reported that the German-born Oliver had come to the U.S. at age 16 as a foreign exchange student and lived in North Carolina for a year and fell in love with America before returning to Germany, only to then move back to the U.S. at age 21 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry instead of following his father's path with a banking career.
He first appeared in several commercials, including for jeans and toothpaste, before landing the role on "Save by the Bell" which launched his career.
