UPDATE: Relatives ID Rockbridge plane crash victims

STEELES TAVERN — Relatives released a statement today mourning the deaths of a Florida business mogul and his wife in a plane crash that rattled rural Rockbridge County.

A single-engine aircraft traveling from New Jersey to Tampa smashed into a field at McCormick Farm on Sunday morning just outside the Augusta County line, killing former Checker’s Drive-In Restaurants CEO Daniel Dorsch, 56, and his wife, Cyndie, 55.

“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,“ the statement read.

Federal aviation officials have declined to identify the victims.

Daniel Dorsch in 1999 took over Checker’s Drive-In Restaurants, a Tampa-based chain of almost 800 eateries mired in debt at the time. He was credited with turning the chain around before resigning 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.

The pilot of the doomed plane reported losing an exterior panel just after 10 a.m. Sunday after climbing from 26,000 to 32,000 feet, according aviation officials. The aircraft then dropped off the radar.

The pilot was seeking to divert to Lynchburg Regional Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The crash sprayed debris 100 yards wide and 300 yards long, state police Sgt. R.J. Carpentieri said. McCormick 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 New Jersey in the Pilatus PC-12, which is manufactured by Swiss-based Pilatus Aircraft and is used mostly for corporate travel.

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

The Pilatus PC-12 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, a Pilatus PC-12 crashed on approach at an airport in Butte, Mont., killing all 14 passengers.

The NTSB is still investigating the cause of that crash.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.