Pilot dad killed alongside wife and three kids after fiery Nashville plane crash in ‘devastating loss’
A young Canadian family was identified Wednesday as the five people killed in a fiery plane crash along a Nashville highway.
Rimma Dotsenko, her husband, Victor, and their three children died Monday when their single-engine plane suffered a reported engine shutdown, Canada’s King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini announced.
“On behalf of King Township, I extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the Dotsenko family from our community who tragically lost their lives in the small plane crash in Nashville, Tennessee,” Pellegrini’s statement read.
“This is a heartbreaking and devastating loss for our tight-knit community. While we await further details from the ongoing investigation, our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims during this incredibly difficult time. We also extend our gratitude to the first responders and officials involved in the response and investigation.”
The three children’s names were Emma, Adam and David, their private school UMCA Rich Tree Academy confirmed.
“These beautiful children lit up our hallways every day. They all had such a positive energy and attitude toward their friends and teachers,” a statement from the school read.
“Words cannot express the profound sadness and grief we are experiencing as we mourn the loss of the Dotsenko family.”
The family had been just three miles from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville when they crash-landed on a grassy median.
Victor Dotsenko was at the controls of the doomed plane, alerting air traffic controllers that his “engine turned off.”
The father of three graduated from the Brampton Flight Centre in 2022 with a private pilot license and bought his own plane in the middle of last year, a spokesperson from the flying school told The Post.
The Dotsenkos had “for reasons unknown” overflown the Nashville airport just moments before reporting the emergency.
Victor Dotsenko warned air traffic controllers he would be making an emergency landing wherever possible — although the John C. Tune Airport runway was in sight, it was too far away.
“I’m too far away, I won’t make it,” he said before crashing, with the impact caught in a chilling video.
Kendra Loney, a spokesperson with the Nashville Fire Department, described the crash as “catastrophic,” saying witnesses told authorities the plane exploded on impact.
The aircraft had departed from Mount Sterling, Kentucky, just 30 minutes earlier.
US National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the flight originated in Ontario and also made a stop in Erie, Pennsylvania.
It is not clear why the family was traveling in the small Canada-based 1978 Piper PA-32R.
The NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the cause of the deadly crash.
As of Wednesday, there were no updates in their probe.
