Lucas Peterson, the Frugal Traveler columnist for the New York Times stood up for Costa Rica describing his trip to the country and how in his opinion “Experiencing, the ‘pure life’ of Costa Rica is a unique experience”; this after some publications in U.S. media in the past weeks have questioned the security and regulation of domestic flights in the country, following the tragic light aircraft crash that occurred Dec. 31 and where 10 U.S. tourists died.

Peterson describes the many attractions Costa Rica has to offer, and his experience while vacationing in the country in the article titled “After a Tragedy, Making the Case for Costa Rica“:

“The airport in Drake Bay, on the southwestern coast, consisted of a small shack next to a long strip of asphalt. I had arrived by small aircraft, a single-propeller Cessna operated by Sansa Airlines. It was the same type of plane that crashed this past New Year’s Eve outside of Punta Islita Airport, killing 10 Americans. Air fatalities, while rare, are always sobering. And the tragedy of this crash is particularly difficult to reconcile with the remarkable beauty of Costa Rica — a place American tourists have embraced as one of the world’s top eco-travel destinations, and one that I wouldn’t hesitate to return to”, states Peterson  and he continues later:

“World travel involves a constant internal risk-reward mental calculus: Is it safe to visit this country? Do I approach this friendly-looking stranger? Should I explore down this street? The answer, most of the time, is yes. But the calculus can get thrown out of whack when there’s a fatal air crash in Costa Rica, a mosque attack in Egypt or a shooting at a Parisian concert hall”.

The tourism sector in Costa Rica showed its concern a few days back after some publications in U.S. media made reference to the tragic accident and questioned the regulations and security in place in Costa Rica regarding these domestic flights; in an article published in Fox News title “Deadly Costa Rica Crash Highlights Dangers of Non-Commercial Tourism Flights”, James Hall, the former head of the National Transportation Safety Board offers Fox News’ Cristina Corbin the following remarks over a telephone interview:

“These private tourist flights do not have the type of oversight and regulation that we have with commercial aviation in the United States”… “The average tourist is not going to be able to make a determination about the safety of these flights”.

Regarding these last statements, Enio Cubillo, Director of Civil Aviation in Costa Rica, had commented: This is a very subjective position, using a fatality that eventually could take place in any country and in any aerial space (…) it is an unwise statement that lacks proper information. Saying that there is a deficiency by the authorities seems very irresponsible to me”.

Costa Rican authorities are conducting the necessary investigations and analysis to determine the cause of the tragic accident.