It was a dream vacation in the Caribbean that ended with a tragic accident: Christian Klesper, known by his stage name Christian Oliver and for his role as Jan Richter in the RTL series “Alarm für Cobra 11”, is near a plane crash died on the island of Bequia. His two daughters Madita and Annik, aged ten and twelve, also died on board the ill-fated plane. They leave behind ex-wife and mother Jessica Mazur. The pilot and owner of the plane also lost his life in the crash. The four bodies were recovered by Coast Guard personnel and later pronounced dead by a doctor.
It is currently unclear why the pilot lost control of the aircraft and is under investigation. Footage of the accident is now circulating on the Internet, and the fall into the water was filmed. Eyewitnesses say in a video on the “iWitness” portal that the Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking aircraft had problems with the wind, and the propeller and engine appeared to have failed.
This information has not yet been confirmed by the authorities, but an eyewitness says in the video from “iWitness”: “Everything shut down. I said to my friend: The plane is going to crash.” The plane flew upwards again, but then quickly lost altitude. The nosedive could no longer be prevented: “He just dived.”
In the video, several eyewitnesses describe similar events. A former coast guard officer also says: “It seemed as if the power went out or the engine failed.” The plane apparently wanted to fly back to the airport, but: “At that moment the wind took control of the plane and it crashed into the water.”
According to local authorities, Christian Oliver and his daughters were on their way to the island of St. Lucia, around 100 kilometers away. The plane ran into trouble shortly after taking off from Bequia Island. Bequia belongs to the archipelago of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Christian Oliver grew up in Frankfurt and moved to the USA at the age of 21. He and his ex-wife Jessica Mazur have two daughters who were born in the States and also died in the plane crash. Mazur is a Pilates instructor living in Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, Christian Oliver starred in major Hollywood productions, for example in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Good German” with George Clooney and Cate Blanchett, in Bryan Singer’s “Operation Valkyrie” alongside Tom Cruise and in “Speed Racer”, a film by the Wachowski siblings.
The German TV audience knows Oliver best as detective Jan Richter from the RTL series “Alarm für Cobra 11”, in which he was involved from 2002 to 2004. In a 2020 interview, Oliver said he would love to return to the action series at any time. At the time, he played alongside Erdoğan Atalay, who commented on RTL after the accident: “It’s absolutely horrible, and my thoughts are with the mother. The idea of being left behind as a parent and having to endure this horror is indescribable.”
In Germany he had further appearances in “Der Bergdoktor”, “Rosamunde Pilcher” and “SOKO Stuttgart”.
Just a few days ago, Christian Oliver posted a few New Year’s lines from his Caribbean vacation on Instagram: “Let love reign,” Oliver wrote under the sunset photo shortly before his death. “I wish you all the best for 2024!”
US casting director Paul Weber wrote under Oliver’s latest post: “He was such a shining light full of passion and potential… My heart breaks for his wife and family, and I mourn his loss and the loss of his two beautiful daughters. “
The German screenwriter Anika Decker also commented on the post with a black heart.
US director Nick Lyon commented on the death of Christian Oliver. He has already worked with the actor five times, most recently just before Christmas. Lyon wrote on Instagram: “I knew Christian since he first came here from Germany (…) we called Christian Oliver little Christian… That’s what we called him his whole life and he loved it.”
Oliver shot the film with fellow actor Bai Ling (57), who appeared shocked in two posts on Instagram: “I cried and cried, it was our first and last film together, I loved working with him so much .”
Sources: RTL.de, Bild.de, iWitness
