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Dorsch's marketing director believed to be on doomed flight

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 7, 2009

Updated: 07/07/2009 12:58 pm

TAMPA - The brother of the marketing director for a prominent Tampa businessman killed when his plane crashed in Virginia on Sunday said today he believes his sister was aboard the aircraft.

The crash killed Daniel Dorsch, 56, and his wife, Cynthia, 55, and investigators are trying to determine who else was aboard. The flight plan Dorsch filed with the Federal Aviation Administration listed four passengers.

Greg Brown said he believes his sister Jenny was on the plane. She was scheduled to make the trip with the Dorsches to New York.

Jenny Brown, 37, moved to Florida from Tyler, Texas, her brother said, and had sons, 18 and 14.

"She was very ambitious. She was very loyal. She loved her job," he Brown said.

The fourth passenger was believed to be Stepan Matkovski, two of his friends said Monday.

Matkovski was Cynthia Dorsch's dance instructor.

The trip was to be a working vacation over the holiday weekend for Daniel Dorsch and Jenny Brown while Cynthia Dorsch and Matkovski attended a ballroom dance competition, Greg Brown said.

So far, agencies investigating the crash have not officially identified any of those aboard the Pilatus PC-12, a single-engine aircraft or even how many people were aboard.

That could take days and likely longer, said Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Rob Carpentieri. That task is up to a medical examiner, he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash, but the Virginia State Police are handling identification of the victims.

Daniel Dorsch made his name and fortune in the fast-food business, starting with KFC franchises, and he was CEO of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants from 1999 to 2003.

He was hired to turn the company around after its stock had plummeted from $54 to $2 a share.

He owns several Papa John's Pizza outlets in the Bay area and Fun Bike Center Motorsports in Lakeland. Jenny Brown was director of marketing for the bike center as well as the umbrella corporation that owned other businesses belonging to Dorsch, her brother said.

The Dorsch family released a statement through a spokeswoman Monday expressing their grief.

Connie Gerhart, a family friend of Matkovski, said she believed he was aboard the plane. He had flown in the aircraft to competitions all over the United States, she said.

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

The crash occurred 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 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. Debris was scattered over 250 yards at the crash site.

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

The plane was flying at 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.

Reporter Laura Kinsler contributed to this report. Contact Neil Johnson at (813) 259-7731.

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