Hawkesbury River Sydney Seaplanes crash pilot a ‘gentleman of the skies’

THE pilot of a seaplane that crashed into the Hawkesbury River, killing all on board, was yesterday remembered as “a gentleman of the skies” who loved shiny shoes.

• Passengers named in Hawkesbury River seaplane tragedy

THE pilot of a seaplane that crashed into the Hawkesbury River, killing all on board, was yesterday remembered as “a gentleman of the skies” who loved shiny shoes.

Friends yesterday gathered at the Sydney church where Gareth Morgan, 44, had attended services.

“He would always come to church on Sunday when he wasn’t working, dressed immaculately, and he loved wearing smart, shiny shoes,” Pentecostal Jubilee Church pastor Fini De Gersigny told the Daily Telegraph.

Jubilee Church pastor Fini Gersigny paid tribute to pilot Gareth Morgan.

Gareth Morgan, 44, died in a New Year’s Eve crash.

Ahead of Mr Morgan’s funeral at the Waverley church on Wednesday, pastor De Gersigny told yesterday’s congregation: “His family are determined to make Sunday a celebration of his life.

“It’s been very difficult for us, Gareth was a man of the church for five or six years and was always offering his support to those in the church who needed it.

“He was a gentleman of the skies.”

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The parents of pilot Gareth Morgan: Dudley and Orlis Morgan, along with sister Cydane and brother Dallas arrive in Sydney. Picture: John Grainger

Canadian Mr Morgan was killed alongside his passengers — UK millionaire Richard Cousins, 58, his fiancee Emma Bowden, 48, his two sons, Will and Edward, 25 and 23, and Ms Bowden’s daughter Heather, 11 — when a Sydney Seaplanes aircraft plunged into the river at Jerusalem Bay.

Richard Cousins and his fiancee Emma Bowden both died in the New Year's Eve plane crash.

As authorities continue to investigate the New Year’s Eve crash, Sydney Seaplanes remains closed. The company would not speculate yesterday on when its remaining four planes will fly again.

The recovery of the wreckage of the seaplane that crashed into the water on New Year’s Eve. Picture: Richard Dobson.

“Our priority is to support the families and our staff who have been affected by this tragedy and to assist crash investigators,” a spokesman said.

“When we reopen is not something we’ve even begun to consider.”

While Sydney Seaplanes is not grounded, and can fly again at any time, aviation experts said it was a good idea to stay closed for some weeks after such a tragedy “so that pilots don’t have to fly when their minds are not on the job and staff can try to make sense of what happened”.

Mr Morgan was piloting the doomed plane.

“The other pilots, everybody involved in the operation, will be shocked and dismayed — how do they go on as normal after something like this?” one expert said.

But at an estimated daily cost of $21,000 in lost revenue, it was “not feasible to stay closed for months or wait for the results of the preliminary report”.

The Australian Safety Transport Bureau is compiling a preliminary report into the crash, expected to be finished by the end of January, while a “complex” review will take 12 months.

Investigators are examining the wreckage of the seaplane, which crashed nose-first into the river, after it was raised from the water last week.

The de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver had been rebuilt after a fatal crash more than 20 years ago.