Christopher John Douglas had dreams of working as a commercial pilot for a big company such as Qantas or Air New Zealand.
But the 25-year-old's life was cut short when the plane he was flying crashed in a remote part of the West Australian goldfields.
The New Zealander,
who worked for Goldfields Air Services in Kalgoorlie, was found amid the wreckage of his Cessna 210, 257km southwest of Warburton.
A search began for the lone pilot when he failed to arrive in Kalgoorlie after leaving Warburton on a freight run on Wednesday.
His parents, Eric and Heather Douglas, are in Kalgoorlie to meet police and bring his body home.
They were at Goldfields yesterday visiting his colleagues.
Mrs Douglas told the Herald: "We never had any hassles with him. He was the best person."
Christopher Douglas was born in Rotorua and moved to Gisborne with his parents, then to Palmerston North, where he obtained his commercial pilot's licence from Massey University. He moved to Australia in May last year.
Safety authorities are investigating the crash.
