Two managing directors of advisory company Greenhill & Co. (GHL), along with three family members of one of them, were killed when the small plane in which they were traveling crashed in New Jersey Tuesday morning.

In a statement, Greenhill identified the two bankers as Jeffrey F. Buckalew, 45, a managing director and head of North American advisory activities, and Rakesh Chawla, 36, a managing director specializing in the financial-services sector. Greenhill also said Buckalew's wife, Corinne, and his two children, Jackson and Meriwether, were on board the plane.

Greenhill's chairman, Robert Greenhill, and its chief executive, Scott Bok, said in a joint statement that "the firm is in deep mourning over the tragic and untimely death of two of its esteemed colleagues and member's of Jeff's family." Buckalew, who joined Greenhill in 1996, was among the company's first employees. "They will be sorely missed and our sympathies go out to their families and friends."

The plane, a single-engine turboprop registered to Cool Stream LLC of New York City, crashed on Interstate 287 near Morristown, N.J., the Star-Ledger of Newark reported online Tuesday, citing state police. The crash occurred around 10 a.m. near Exit 34 on the highway, according to the report, resulting in multiple lane closures.

The plane belonged to Buckalew, an experienced pilot whose passion was flying, Greenhill said in its statement Tuesday. Press reports said the plane was headed for DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Atlanta and lost contact with a Federal Aviation Administration radio tower in New York shortly before the crash.

Buckalew received an undergraduate degree and a graduate business degree from the University of North Carolina and worked at Salomon Brothers before joining Greenhill the year of its founding in 1996. He was a deal generalist, advising VF Corp. (VFC) on its $2 billion acquisition of Timberland earlier this year and advising on past deals for Roche Holding AG (RHHBY, ROG.VX), Emerson Electric Co. (EMR), and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL).

Greenhill's Bok said both men were considered friends by everyone at the firm. He said Buckalew was active in recruiting and other internal matters and was frequently the winner of the firm's summer golf outing.

Chawla had an undergraduate degree from University of Virginia and a graduate business degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He worked at Credit Suisse Group AG (CS, CSGN.VX) and Blackstone Group LP (BX) before joining Greenhill eight years ago. Recently, he worked with the U.S. Treasury to help it manage and dispose of its investment in American International Group Inc. (AIG).

Rakesh leaves behind a wife and three daughters.

-By Liz Moyer, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2512; liz.moyer@dowjones.com

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