Business mogul, wife killed in plane crash

STEELES TAVERN — A single-engine airplane crashed Sunday morning in a Rockbridge County field killing a Florida business mogul and his wife.

Relatives of Daniel Joseph Dorsch, 56, and his wife, Cyndie, 55, released a statement today saying, “We are deeply sadded by the loss of Mr. Daniel Joseph Dorsch and his wife, Cyndie Dimalanta Dorsch, who passed away in a plane crash yesterday.“

Dorsch was the former CEO of Checker’s Drive-In Restaurants, a Tampa-based chain of almost 800 drive-in restaurants. He was widely credited with turning around the chain, which was deeply in debt when he took over in 1999. He left Checker’s less than four years later.

The crashed plane was registered to Nicholas, Elliott & Jordan LLC, a Tampa company headed by Dorsch, according to Florida records. Dorsch is listed in federal records as a pilot licensed to fly single-engine aircraft.

Dorsch and his wife were flying from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Tampa Executive Airport at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, when, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot reported losing an exterior panel. The aircraft had climbed to 32,000 feet from 26,000 feet before dropping off radar, said Todd Gunther of the National Transportation Safety Board’s aviation safety office.

The pilot had planned to divert to Lynchburg Regional Airport after losing the panel, the FAA said.

The aircraft smashed into a field at McCormick Farm, spraying debris 100 yards wide and 300 yards long, state police Sgt. R.J. Carpentieri said. The farm covers 600 acres and is owned by Virginia Tech. Some historic buildings are located there but were not damaged.

The couple flew June 30 from Tampa to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. 

The aircraft, a Pilatus PC-12 used mostly for corporate travel.

An NTSB investigation of the crash could last a week, officials said. The agency will issue an initial report, likely within 10 days.

Gunther said NTSB investigators were looking at the Pilatus PC-12’s performance, a possible mechanical malfunction, the pilot’s physical condition, the weather at the time of the crash and air traffic.

The Pilatus PC-12 is manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft, a Swiss company.

That model primarily has been used for corporate flying since it was developed in the early 1990s. It is a low-wing aircraft that can reach a maximum cruising speed of 322 mph.

Earlier this year media and NTSB reports say a Pilatus PC-12 crashed on approach to an airport in Butte, Mont., killing all 14 passengers.

As of last month, the NTSB was still investigating the cause of that crash.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SOURCE: http://WWW.PILATUS-AIRCRAFT.COM