Family of Nikita Walker, the pilot killed in crash in Tasmania’s South-West, pays tribute to their ‘angel’

The family of the young pilot tragically killed in Tasmania’s South-West last month say they plan to visit the area to spread some of her ashes in a place she loved.

Nikita Walker spent most of her life either in the water or in the air. Picture: FACEBOOK

THE family of the young pilot tragically killed in Tasmania’s Southwest last month have spoken publicly for the first time and say they are planning to visit the area in March to spread some of her ashes in a place she loved.

Nikita Jo Walker, 30, who moved to Tasmania from Queensland in 2016 to chase her dream of flying, died when her twin-engine Par Avion aircraft collided with a mountain near Federation Peak in the western Arthur Range on December 8.

The Walker girls: Nikita, centre, with her mum Karen and younger sister Mantina. Picture: SUPPLIED

Her devastated mum Karen Walker told the Mercury she was an “angel” with an “amazing soul” who loved life.

“She met each day with a beautiful ‘morning’,” Ms Walker said. “She was a force to contend with because she had so much love to give and so much energy.

“I want so much more of her but she had given so much to the world. Her job was done, she’s woken us all up to make the most of life.”

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Deceased pilot Nikita Jo Walker. Picture: SUPPLIED

Ms Walker said her eldest daughter “just always wanted to fly”.

She said they found her journal where Nikita had written: “What am I grateful for? I have an incredible and unique job. I experienced one of the most remote, untouched and special places left in the whole world.”

Nikita regularly flew the route from Cambridge Aerodrome to Melaleuca, ferrying hundreds of tourists, bushwalkers and adventurers to Tasmania’s spectacular Southwest National Park.

“She loved what she was doing,” Ms Walker said.

Nikita Walker, left, with her mum Karen Walker and younger sister Mantina Walker. Picture: SUPPLIED

During a visit to Tasmania, Nikita took her mum flying.

“It was beautiful,” Ms Walker said. “We did a three-hour flight through the central region.

“She was very driven, from an early age. Everything she did, she just wanted to excel and do the best she could do.

“She rode 60km on a pushbike before she was four.

Nikita Walker at the controls of a Par Avion aircraft. Picture: SUPPLIED

“When I gave Nikita her first pair of rollerblades, I remember her for hours going up and down on the concrete, she was so tired she couldn’t even take the rollerblades off.”

Ms Walker said Nikita left home at 18 to “take on the world” and after her death she received messages from across the globe from people she met.

During her eight years travelling Nikita spend time in Canada, worked on a private yacht, visited Cuba and Brazil, went surfing in Indonesia and “pretty much went all over the world”.

Ms Walker said Nikita always had time for everybody, no matter how busy she was.

“One lady said to me ‘I was sick one day and Nikita took the time to bring her dog over to me to spend the day, nothing was too big an effort’,” Ms Walker said.

Nikita was farewelled by family and friends during a life celebration attended by more than 180 people at La Balsa Park in Point Cartwright, Queensland, on December 21.

Her younger sister Mantina Walker said the spot was her favourite place on the Sunshine Coast.

The next morning mourners paddled out into the surf as they spread her ashes and released her favourite flowers, oriental lilies, into the water.

Friends and family at the paddle out at Point Cartwright, one of Nikita’s favourite spots. Picture: SUPPLIED

“Her life was water and if she wasn’t in the water she was flying,” Mantina said. “The two things that stick out about my sister is the ocean and the sky, they were the two places she always wanted to be.”

She said it was just the three of them growing up — “mum, Kita and I — the Walker girls everyone called us”.

“Her personality was infectious,” Mantina said.

“She made everyone feel loved and her energy filled the room because she was just so full of life and she wanted the best for everyone.”

She said it was a touching moment to see all the people who loved her sister watching as they released her ashes at Point Cartwright.

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