Authorities announced on Wednesday that a Canadian family of five has been identified as the victims of the single-engine plane collision in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Metro Nashville Police Department identified the victims: pilot Victor Dotsenko, 43, his 39-year-old wife Rimma Dotsenko, and their three children, Adam, 10, and Emma, 7.
A National Transportation Safety Board official stated that the aircraft plummeted on Monday evening, next to the eastward side of Interstate 40, after the pilot reported a complete loss of engine power on Monday night.
The family’s residence was King Township, a Canadian municipality situated north of Toronto. Steve Pellegrini, the mayor of King Township, said it is a tragic and heartbreaking loss for the close-knit community.
The aircraft crashed approximately 3 miles from John Tune Airport in Nashville, Tennessee, while en route from Mount Sterling, Kentucky, to Nashville, according to NTSB aviation safety investigator Aaron McCarter’s statement at a press conference on Tuesday.
McCarter stated that the flight had departed from Ontario, Canada, before landing in Mount Sterling and Erie, Pennsylvania.
There were no reports of mechanical anomalies or irregularities throughout the flight. McCarter reports that as the aircraft approached John Tune Airport, it ascended and passed overhead at 2,500 feet before reporting a total loss of engine power.
At approximately 7:40 p.m., the control tower at John Tune Airport was notified of the aircraft’s engine and power failure. The pilot requested landing authority, which was granted, according to Don Aaron, director of public affairs for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Air traffic control, with whom the pilot was in communication, declared an emergency on the pilot’s behalf and extended assistance with landing at the airport. McCarter stated that the aircraft plummeted onto the Interstate highway after making a U-turn.
An investigation into the cause of the engine failure will proceed at a facility in Springfield, Tennessee, where the aircraft’s wreckage is being transported.
