Profound sadness and grief

Friends and community mourn King Township family of five killed in plane crash in Nashville

- LEX HARVEY AND OMAR MOSLEH

The King City man who died in a plane crash in Nashville, Tenn., Monday evening alongside his wife and three kids was generous, softspoken and respectful towards everyone he met, the family’s longtime rabbi told the Star in an interview Thursday.

“He was a person that would literally give his shirt off his back for someone else,” said Rabbi Chaim Hildeshaim of the Chabad Russian Centre of Thornhill Woods.

Victor Dotsenko, 43, his wife, Rimma, 39, and their three children, David, 12, Adam, 10, and Emma, 7, perished in the fiery crash near downtown Nashville alongside Interstate 40, Nashville police said in a post to X Wednesday night.

The plane is believed to have departed the Brampton-Caledon Airport on Monday afternoon and made two stops before crashing that evening. The cause is unknown.

“I’m going to be landing — I don’t know where!” the pilot told air traffic controllers who frantically tried to help him land safely just before the crash.

Rimma’s father Sergey Rudetsky confirmed his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren all died in the crash, but asked for privacy as he deals with his shock and grief.

Hildeshaim first met Victor and Rimma before they got married, and he and his wife became fast friends with the Dotsenkos, whom Hildeshaim said were cherished and devoted members of the Chabad Russian Centre community.

Hildeshaim officiated Rimma and Victor’s wedding and the naming ceremonies for their three kids. The Dotsenkos would spend Shabbat and holidays in the Hildeshaims’ home.

“Victor was the nicest guy” and “very proud of his heritage,” Hildeshaim said.