Farewell to pilot who died saving passengers

Hundreds of mourners gathered yesterday to pay tribute to a British pilot who was hailed a hero for saving passengers when his plane crashed in the Caribbean.

Robert Mansell, originally from Knowle, near Solihull, West Midlands, died in October when he was forced to ditch his aircraft in the sea off Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles.

The 32-year-old's nine passengers survived and Mr Mansell was later praised by investigators for the action he took to ensure the plane did not turn over in the sea.

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Friends and family packed Knowle Parish Church yesterday to pay their final respects.

Speaking before the service Mr Mansell's father, Roger, described him as a "natural pilot".

He said: "He was the son that everyone dreams of, very loyal, very affectionate, incredibly competent. He was good at everything he did."

The 73-year-old added: "I spoke to him on the evening before the tragedy and he said some lovely things to me, one of which was that he wanted to move to Australia and settle there.

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"He loved the Australian way of life. He said to me, 'you can come over and I'll look after you in your old age'; that was one of the last things he said to me before he died."

The congregation of about 250 heard that Mr Mansell was "a true daredevil" who loved music and motorbikes and travelled around south-east Asia and Australia before beginning his training to become a pilot.

A family tribute, read by the Rev Richard Trethewey, described him as "calm and collected, well-measured and mature, with a wonderful,

sweet spirit and an easy nature".

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