Oscar winning music composer James Horner died at the age of 61 in a plane crash near Santa Barbara.
Horner, who won two Oscars for the music of “Titanic” and scored for other blockbusters like “Avatar”, “Braveheart”, and “A Beautiful Mind”, died on Monday, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
His death was confirmed by Sylvia Patrycja, who is identified on Horner’s film music page as his assistant.
“We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent. He died doing what he loved. Thank you for all your support and love and see you down the road,” Patrycja wrote on social networking website Facebook on Monday.
Horner was piloting the small aircraft when it crashed into a remote area about 60 miles north of Santa Barbara, officials said.
An earlier report noted that the plane, which was registered to the composer, had gone down, but the pilot had not been identified.
For his work on the 1997 Best Picture winner “Titanic”, directed by James Cameron, Horner captured the Oscar for Original Dramatic Score, and he nabbed another Academy Award for Original Song (shared with lyricist Will Jennings) for “My heart will go on”, performed by Celine Dion. His score for “Titanic” sold a whopping 27 million copies worldwide.