Heartbroken families pay tribute to pilots Darcy McCarter and Daniel Burrill who died in Howard Springs light aircraft crash

UPDATED: The families of pilots, Darcy McCarter and Daniel Burrill, killed when the Cessna the pair were flying crashed off Gunn Point Rd, have spoken of their heartbreak at losing their sons

UPDATE: THE families of the two pilots killed when the Cessna the pair were flying crashed off Gunn Point Rd have spoken of their heartbreak at losing their sons.

John Burrill said his son Daniel Burrill, 33, was with 23-year-old Darcy McCarter in the Air Frontier flight which crashed at Howard Springs.

Mr Burrill said his family were heartbroken by the tragic death of their son.

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“It is with agonising sadness that Sonya, Mathilde and I have to announce the passing of our oldest son, Daniel. He died in a light plane crash yesterday (Monday afternoon) in a rural area just outside of Darwin. Another pilot also died in the crash,” he said.

“They were flying from Darwin to Elcho Island. Our hearts are shattered. Our minds are reeling with hurt. Dan was a force of nature.

“A young man of 33, full of life, love and purpose. He leaves behind his fiance Mathilde, two brothers and lots of loving family and friends.”

Daniel Burrill, 33, died in a light plane crash at Howard Springs

Earlier, Phillip McCarter said his son Darcy was at the helm of the flight which crashed at Howard Springs Monday afternoon.

In a touching tribute, Mr McCarter said Darcy’s family were trying to comprehend they had lost him.

“Many of you will already know, but we lost our beautiful boy Darcy yesterday (Monday afternoon). He was flying out of Darwin to Elcho Island, where he was based as a pilot serving the local community,” he said.

“We don’t know what happened, but the plane crashed and the two pilots on board didn’t make it. I am empty.

“As you can imagine we are all absolutely heartbroken and cannot believe this has happened. We have lost our darling boy and brother to Ella. We can’t imagine our lives without him and love him with all our hearts. We love you.”

Darcy McCarter died in a light air craft crash in Howard Springs

Flowers have been placed at the scene of the plane crash where two occupants died after the aircraft crashed into bushland off Gunn Point Road

Mr McCarter and Mr Burrill perished in the crash when the Air Frontier aircraft went down in bushland off Gunn Point Rd in Howard Springs.

The single-engine aircraft, a Cessna 210, is understood to have just taken off when it may have hit a storm.

The plane, destined for Elcho Island, known to its tradional owners as Galiwin’ku, was transporting the body of a man in a “funeral transport flight”.

It’s understood the body of the deceased was found separately to the two people killed in the crash.

Part of a wing belonging to a Cessna 210 small plane that crashed off Gunn Point Road and killed both occupants.

The body being carried as cargo is believed to have been that of a man who lived in Darwin but came from Elcho Island and died in a car accident not long ago.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau transport safety executive director Nat Nagy told the ABC it was important people didn’t start thinking all small aircraft were unsafe.

“We look at the facts and hard data, and objectively, I’m a commercial pilot myself and I’m more than happy to fly in light aircraft and put my family in light aircraft,” he said.

The investigators will arrive in Darwin at lunchtime on Tuesday.