James Horner, Composer For ‘Avatar’ & ‘Titanic’ Dies In Private Plane Crash

James Horner passed away yesterday in a plane crash north of Santa Barbara. A trained pilot, James was flying the plane that carried him during his last moments. He was 61 at the time of his death.

According to Variety, he was flying a two-seater single-engine S312 Tucano which crashed in Ventura County at 9:30am. James was flying alone in his plane.

The shocking news has hit the Hollywood community hard, and reactions from the industry has been steadily flowing in. Billboard has compiled a few in a recent posting, which includes statements from actors Kirstie Alley, Debra Messing and Rob Lowe to state a few.

Confirming the tragedy, his assistant Sylvia Patrycja posted a Facebook status stating, “We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart, and unbelievable talent. He died doing what he loved.”

Born on the 14th of August 1953, James has won two Academy Awards to date, both for Titanic (Best Original Score and Best Original Song) and has been nominated for 10 in total. He is one of the most renowned composers in Hollywood, scoring for movies such as Aliens, Braveheart, A Beautiful Mind, House of Sand and Fog, Jumanji, Avatar, and two Star Trek films from the 80’s.

The Hollywood Reporter states that his final works can be heard in boxing drama Southpaw in July, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Wolf Totem in September, and Chilean mining disaster film The 33, due in November.