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Tampa exec Daniel Dorsch, wife dead in plane crash

Tribune file photo (2000)

Daniel Dorsch is a former CEO of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants and a business owner in the Tampa Bay area.

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TBO.com

Published: July 5, 2009

Updated: 07/06/2009 10:26 pm

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RAPHINE, Va. - A prominent Tampa businessman and his wife were among those killed Sunday when their private plane crashed in a rural area of Virginia.

Daniel Dorsch, who made his name in the fast food business, was piloting the private plane when he attempted to land near Lynchburg. The crash also claimed the life of Dorsch's wife, Cynthia.

The National Transportation Safety Board said two other people might have been in the plane when it crashed. One was Cynthia Dorsch's dance instructor, Stepan Matkovski, two of Matkovski's friends said Monday.

The group was returning home to Tampa after spending the holiday weekend in New York, where Cynthia Dorsch and Matkovski were competing in a ballroom dance competition.

Daniel Dorsch was a well-known businessman who was CEO of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants from 1999-2003. His wife, Cyndie, was an avid ballroom dancer who was considered a rising star. The couple has three sons.

Medical examiners were at the crash site late into the night attempting to identify the victims. Crash debris was scattered over 250 yards, NTSB officials said.

Daniel Dorsch owns several Papa John's Pizza outlets in the Bay area and Fun Bike Center Motorsports in Lakeland but is best known as the executive who salvaged Checkers. He was hired to restore the company in 1999 after its stock had plummeted from $54 to $2.

He brought a successful record to the effort as owner of Taco Bell and KFC franchises as well as owning motorcycle dealerships and the franchise rights for Papa John's in Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, Hernando, Sarasota and Manatee counties. He was known as someone who worked hard and demanded commitment from his employees. But Dorsch also knew how to reward achievement.

"He had photos on his wall from this one time he took the company on a cruise," said Terry Power, who handled the company's pension plan in the mid-1990s.

The family of Dorsch mourned his loss and that of his wife, Cyndie, in a statement released earlier Monday through a public relations spokeswoman.

The statement said family members were "deeply saddened by the loss of Mr. Daniel Joseph Dorsch and his wife, Cyndie Dimalanta Dorsch, who passed away in a plane crash yesterday. Mr. Dorsch was a strong leader, a respected entrepreneur, and a successful CEO who cared deeply about his employees and his businesses."

Dorsch had engineered the turnaround of the Checkers Drive-In Restaurant chain, earning him the nickname of the "turnaround artist."

In a 2000 interview with the Tampa Tribune, Dorsch said he took on the Checkers job because, "I want to hit the biggest home-run turnaround in the history of business."

The couple's apparent deaths in a plane crash Sunday leaves their friends and neighbors in Tampa Palms reeling and in shock.

John Ramil, TECO's president and chief operating officer, who lives in Tampa Palms' The Reserve village near the Dorsches, recalled the couple's zest for life.

"They were very hardworking people who enjoyed life," Ramil said.

Cynthia Dorsch's dance instructor and partner, Stepan Matkovski, was also believed to be on board, according to Connie Gerhart, a family friend of the instructor.

"It's devastating," said Gerhart, of Safety Harbor. "Dance was his life."

Gerhart said the 23-year-old dance instructor, a native of Moldova, had flown in the Dorsches' private plane to competitions all over the United States. They recently had competed in San Diego and spent the holiday weekend in New York at the Manhattan Dancesport Championships. The couple specialized in International Latin dances and took first place in the jive and Paso Doble.

"Stepan became like a member of their family," said Michael Chapman, one of Dorsch's coaches.

Dan Dorsch fully supported his wife's new life as a ballroom dancer, he said. "She found something she connected with – she found her niche."

She wrote and blogged about how much she loved the sport – the costumes, the passion and the energy.

Dorsch's passion was for golf. He served on the board for the Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club and who attempted to buy the club about 20 years ago.

"He wanted to make sure it stayed open for the enjoyment of Tampa Palms club members," neighbor Bob White said.

The plane was registered to Jordan, Nicholas, Elliott Inc., and Daniel Dorsch is listed as principal of the corporation and is a licensed pilot. The Tampa-based corporation is named for the couple's three sons.

The plane crashed in Rockbridge County, Va., after the pilot reported an equipment failure and diverted to Lynchburg Regional Airport, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

The Pilatus PC-12, a single-engine aircraft, crashed at 10:06 a.m. Sunday after departing from Teterboro Airport in northern New Jersey about 7:30 a.m. for Tampa Executive Airport, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. The plane crashed on McCormick Farm, which is owned by Virginia Tech.

"The pilot told air traffic control that an exterior panel came off the exterior of the aircraft," Peters said. The pilot said he was diverting to Lynchburg.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation with aid from the FAA, the Virginia State Police and local jurisdictions.

The state police dispatch center in Salem received a call from a resident about a plane in distress at 10:06 a.m., spokesman Sgt. Rob Carpentieri said.

The plane was flying at an altitude of 26,000 feet and climbed to 32,000 feet shortly before the crash, said Todd Gunther, an NTSB investigator. The aircraft later dropped off the radar.

Gunther said in a news conference Sunday afternoon that NTSB officials would interview witnesses to the crash as part of a field investigation and that a preliminary report would be issued in the following days. He said a factual report would follow in nine months.

Nearby residents Bruce Holden and Jennifer Ramsey said they heard what sounded like an engine being revved up. Holden, who lives about 1½ miles from the farm, said he heard the sound of an engine winding up, and then it sounded like it was "getting ready to blow."

Ramsey said she heard what sounded like a motorcycle engine being revved up and down. Then, she felt her house shake.

"I thought my oak trees hit the house," she said. Minutes later, she heard sirens.

McCormick Farm is an agricultural research and extension center and is nestled in a rural area with woods and rolling hills. A few homes are nearby.

Reporters Neil Johnson, Kenneth Knight and Peter Bernard contributed to this report. Information from the News Virginian was used in this report. Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 259-8109.

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