American skateboarder and influencer Josh Neuman was among four men killed after a sightseeing plane crashed into Iceland’s second-largest lake, his family confirmed via social media Monday night.
Neuman, who produced skateboarding videos for nearly 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, had been in the country sightseeing and shooting a commercial when the Cessna 172 he was in disappeared Thursday without sending a distress signal, CNN and The Washington Post reported.
Icelandic officials launched a 1,000-person search-and-rescue operation after the plane vanished from radar and used sonar technology and an autonomous submarine to find the bodies, believed to be those of the missing men, in Thingvallavatn on Sunday, the Post reported.
In their statement posted to 22-year-old Neuman’s Instagram account, his family said that he died “doing what he loved,” having just witnessed the Northern Lights.
Neuman was known for his daredevil videos, including skydiving from a plane and racing down mountains on his longboard, CNN reported.
The three other men believed to be on the flight when it crashed included 27-year-old Tim Alings, sponsorship manager for Belgian fashion brand Suspicious Antwerp; Nicola Bellavia, a 32-year-old skydiver and social media influencer from Belgium; and 49-year-old pilot Haraldur Diego, the Post reported.
Police chief Oddur Arnason told the Associated Press that bad weather has prevented rescue teams from retrieving the bodies.
“For the safety of divers we have to wait until the weather improves,” Arnason said.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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