Man Killed In Plane Crash With Family Was Exec At Bridgewater In Westport

WESTPORT, Conn. — A 50-year-old Westchester man who died in a plane crash with his family on New Year's Eve in Costa Rica was a senior executive at Bridgewater Associates, a large hedge fund based in Westport.

Bruce and Irene Steinberg and their sons, Matthew, William and Zachary of Scarsdale. Bruce, second from left, was an executive at Bridgewater Associates in Westport.
Photo Credit: *Facebook*

Daily Voice

01/02/2018 9:00 a.m.

"The Bridgewater family lost Bruce Steinberg (a senior investor at Bridgewater and a wonderful man) and his family in a plane crash in Costa Rica," Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio said on Facebook. "Right now, we are each processing this devastating tragedy in our own ways. At this time I will be devoting my attentions to doing this and helping others."

Bruce Steinberg, his wife, Irene, and their teenage sons, Matthew, William, and Zachary, all of Scarsdale, N.Y., were among 10 Americans killed when a charter plane crashed into a mountain in Costa Rica on Sunday.

Bruce Steinberg, 50, and Irene Steinberg, 51, were active with the UJA-Federation of New York. Irene Steinberg chaired the annual campaign kickoff of the organization’s Scarsdale Women’s Philanthropy group in 2015.

All 12 people onboard were killed after the single-propeller Cessna 208 Caravan crashed into a mountainous region in the province of Guancaste while en route to Punta Islita, a beach resort on the Pacific coast.

The crash occurred at about 12:15 p.m. moments after takeoff. The private aircraft belonged to Nature Air airline. Conditions at the time of the departure were described as windy. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

“The government of Costa Rica deeply regrets the death of 10 American passengers and two Costa Rican pilots,” President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera of Costa Rica said in a statement.

The other U.S. citizens killed included Amanda Geissler, 33, a trip leader of the Backroads Active Travel Co., said company spokeswoman Liz Einbinder. Geissler, a Utah native, was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The Weisses, a family of four from Belleair, Fla., also died in the crash: husband and wife Mitchell Weiss, 52, and Leslie Weiss, 50; their daughter, Hannah Weiss, 19; and their son, Ari Weiss, 16. Hannah was in a joint undergraduate degree program at Columbia University and List College in New York City.

Mitchell Weiss was the head of interventional radiology at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, where his wife was a pediatrician.

Juan Manuel Retana was identified as the pilot. Laura Chinchilla, president of Costa Rica from 2010 to 2014, said on Twitter that Retana was her cousin. The other crew member, whose name has not been released, was also a Costa Rican citizen.

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