Victor Dotsenko, his wife Rimma Dotsenko and their three children, 12-year-old David, 10-year-old Adam and seven-year-old Emma. The family was killed Monday as a single-engine plane crashed alongside a highway near downtown Nashville.HO/The Canadian Press
Victor Dotsenko, his wife, Rimma, and their three children were en route to Florida for a vacation, when their small airplane suddenly lost power and crashed, killing all five passengers.
The family members, from King City, Ont., have been identified as the victims of the fatal crash on Monday evening near downtown Nashville, Tenn., leaving their community in shock and disbelief.
Arthur Rubino, general manager of homebuilder Regal Crest Homes in Vaughan, Ont., where Rimma Dotsenko worked as a decor consultant for the past seven years, said on Thursday that it’s been a tough day for everyone at the company.
“It’s a big loss,” he said in an interview. “She brought a lot of joy to everyone. She was always smiling.”
Mr. Rubino had met Ms. Dotsenko’s husband and children several times and knew the family was heading to Florida on their private plane, but said he wasn’t sure what route they were taking.
“It was a new thing they were doing,” Mr. Rubino said. When he heard about the crash earlier this week, he said, “I was hoping it wasn’t her.”
All three children – 12-year-old David, 10-year-old Adam and seven-year-old Emma – were students at UMCA Rich Tree Academy, a private school in Vaughan.
“It is with a heavy heart that we write to inform you of a tragic event that has deeply impacted our school community,” read a notice posted on the school’s Instagram page. “These beautiful children lit up our hallways every day. Words cannot express the profound sadness and grief we are experiencing as we mourn the loss of the Dotsenko family.”
In a separate statement, the school offered its condolences to the extended family and community and said it is making counselling services available to students.
Relatives of the family did not respond to messages from The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Dotsenko, 43, and Ms. Dotsenko, 39, purchased their luxury, four-bedroom home in King City in 2017, property records show. The couple have owned the single-engine Piper PA-32 plane since July, 2023, through a numbered company, according to registration records.
Mr. Dotsenko was the owner and chief executive officer of general contracting companies Pearl Homes and Aeroseal Technology, according to his LinkedIn profile. He got his private pilot’s licence in 2022, after training at the Brampton Flying Club, Allan Paige, the club’s general manager, told The Globe.
The couple’s plane was based out of the Brampton-Caledon Airport. According to FlightAware.com, their plane departed from Milton, Ont., at 1:22 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday. After leaving Ontario, the plane made at least two stops, presumably for fuel, before crashing not far from John C. Tune Airport in West Nashville around 7:45 p.m. Central Time, said the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the crash.
The family’s last harrowing moments are captured on air-traffic-control audio recordings.
While approaching the Nashville airport, the pilot radioed air-traffic controllers at around 7:40 p.m. CT, reporting a “catastrophic engine loss of power,” Aaron McCarter, an aviation accident investigator at the NTSB, said at a news conference on Tuesday at the scene of the crash.
The pilot said he had overflown the airport and had circled around in an attempt to land, according to the recordings. Air-traffic controllers declared an emergency and urged the pilot to glide the plane down. “Glide in there. We’ve cleared the runway for you.”
“I’m too far away, I won’t make it,” Mr. Dotsenko, the pilot, responded.
That was the last air-traffic controllers heard from him before his plane dropped off the radar, then crashed on a grassy median near Interstate 40 and burst into flames.
The NTSB said it expects to complete a preliminary report within 30 days, containing factual information gathered during the initial phase of the investigation. A probable cause of the crash will be detailed in a final report, which is expected in 12-to-24 months.
“There’s no definitive cause yet,” Mr. McCarter said in an interview Wednesday evening. “We’re in the infancy of the investigation.”
King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini issued a statement on Thursday, extending his deepest condolences to the families and friends of the Dotsenko family.
“This is a heartbreaking and devastating loss for our tight-knit community,” the statement said.
With a report from Stephanie Chambers
Karen Howlett
Carrie Tait