Pilot killed in hangar crash was ‘admired by his students’ | World | News

The devastated family of a pilot who died in a plane crash in Adelaide have paid heartfelt tributes to their “adored” son.

Robert Hoyle was one of two people killed in the incident at Parafield Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

Robert was the flight instructor who was killed along with the 24-year-old student pilot after the Diamond DA42 light plane they were in crashed into the airport hangar just before 14:11.

His family revealed that the 29-year-old had dreams of becoming a pilot since the age of eight and was affectionately nicknamed ‘Goose’ by his students after the fictional aviator in Top Gun.

“Robert was a commercial pilot for over a decade,” Robert’s parents told 7News.

“He was respected and admired by his peers and students.”

In memory of their son, they stated that he had recently found the love of his life.

Hoyle is understood to be working at Flight Training Adelaide.

In the incident, 2 people died and 10 people were injured.

The condition of two people remained serious, with 80 percent of their bodies burned, a 55-year-old man suffering life-threatening injuries.

When the plane hit the hangar, a fierce fire broke out and thick black smoke billowed into the sky.

More than 100 students and staff were evacuated from the airport as approximately 50 firefighters rushed to the scene.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said he understood the flight lasted less than 30 seconds before the plane nose-dived into the hangar.

He described the scene as “horrifying” as crews began examining the wreckage.

“Immediately after takeoff it pulled very sharply to the left and continued for about 180 degrees, it wasn’t very high off the ground, it wasn’t in the air very long and it crashed into the building.

“It’s going to be quite a challenge for us today as we start to examine that scene to really understand what went wrong so early in what we know was a training flight.

“The extent of the damage was enormous. The fire that broke out after the impact would have caused a lot of damage to the plane itself and everything inside.”