Breaking news: Local couple killed in plane crash in New York

When the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region sought a CEO to succeed Teri McNally, the process took five months.

The board interviewed 20 promising candidates, but one candidate, Zach Hatcher, kept coming to the fore.

“He came out on top in every single category,” McNally said.

Hatcher was supposed to take office at the Community Foundation on August 5. Instead, his family is left to mourn the loss of him and his partner Chris Kucera – a couple McNally knew for 20 years.

Hatcher, 42, and Kucera, 46, were killed in a single-engine plane crash Monday night.t Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York. They were the only two on board.

“Zach and Chris were nice people,” McNally said. “I was telling someone today that they both made you feel like your best friends. Everyone says, ‘He was my best friend.'”

Zach Hatcher was elected as the next CEO of the Rappahannock River Region Community Foundation in June.

A relative confirmed to the Free Press that Kucera was the pilot of the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza A36 that crashed near the end of the airport runway at about 6:15 p.m. Hatcher was his passenger.

A witness said Kucera performed all necessary pre-flight checks and the plane was several hundred feet in the air when it entered a sharp bank and apparently returned to the runway.

“Chris died doing what he loved most and with the man he loved most. For that we are grateful,” said his brother Mike Kucera. “Given the engine failure so soon after takeoff, Chris is a hero because there were no casualties on the ground.”

The couple was visiting a friend in the Long Island area and were on their way back to Virginia when the plane crashed. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation.

Kucera, an aerospace engineer, was an experienced pilot who had acquired all the skills needed for a license before he was 17, said his brother, who lives in Richmond.

“We are devastated,” said Mike Kucera. “Chris loved this plane and he loved Zach.”

Hatcher and Kucera were well known in the Fredericksburg community. They had a passion for home renovations and recently restored a historic farmhouse in White Plains in King George County. The couple wanted to start work on a home on Washington Avenue in Fredericksburg.

Fredericksburg City Councilman Will Mackintosh said he and his husband had been close friends with the couple for many years. He said they were both loving and faithful.

“They were very funny and always on their toes,” Mackintosh said. “They were masters of the impromptu dinner party. If we got a call on a Saturday, they would invite us to dinner in White Plains, and when we arrived there were a dozen people there. It was a ragtag whole thing, but you would never know how great they were at bringing people together.”

Chris Kucera was an experienced pilot, his brother said.

Hatcher was named CEO of the community foundation in June after serving for many years as senior director of development for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Previously, Hatcher worked at the University of Mary Washington and Fredericksburg Area Health and Support Services (FAHASS). He also hosted a podcast called Art Snap with local art teacher Claire Ellinger.

“Not only I, but the entire staff and board were very excited about the promise he was able to make to our community and the Community Foundation,” McNally said. “He was just a wonderful person and a fantastic friend. I will miss him very much.”

McNally said Hatcher impressed the Community Foundation board because he is a visionary who also knows how to implement ideas. She said he is a force for good in the community.

“He really was an incredibly strategic and thoughtful leader, and our entire staff is devastated,” McNally said. “They were excited to have Zach and see what the next 20 years would bring to the foundation. He really was the ideal candidate for the position.”

The Community Foundation issued a statement Monday announcing the deaths of Hatcher and Kucera “with deep sadness and a heavy heart.” The statement expressed dismay at the loss of “beloved” and “integral” members of the community who left an “indelible” mark on the region.

“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with their families and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” the statement said.

Hatcher was also FAHASS’s executive director for several years. Current executive director Joseph Lyttle said he allowed some staff to walk off work on Tuesday morning because they were so distressed.

Lyttle said that although he did not work with Hatcher at FAHASS, he knows him from his work in the community and recently spent time with him at a Fredericksburg Nationals game in celebration of Pride Month.

“He was super friendly,” Lyttle said. “Everyone liked him. I think that’s why everyone takes it so personally, because basically people have lost not only someone who cared about and worked in the community, but someone they considered a long-time friend.”

Lyttle said Kucera had the ability to make others laugh. McNally said he had an infectious personality.

“He was one of the most engaging, kind and brilliant men I have ever had the pleasure of being friends with,” she said. “We will miss them both very much.”