Tribute paid to dead pilots

Both black box recorders have been recovered

Friends and relatives of the two pilots who died when their plane plunged into the Firth of Forth have been describing their shock at the accident.

Russell Dixon, 29, from Abingdon, in Oxfordshire and Carl Mason, 58, from Ayr, were killed when the Royal Mail plane, operated by Loganair, plunged into the estuary.

The Shorts 360 aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from Edinburgh Airport on Tuesday evening.

Both black box flight recorders have now been recovered by air accident investigators.

According to police, the pilots issued a Mayday call citing a double engine failure minutes before crashing 100 metres from the shoreline near Granton harbour.

The plane is thought to have suffered engine failure

Their bodies were recovered after an extensive search of the crash scene by the RAF and lifeboat crews.

Captain Mason, who was married with four children, was a highly experienced pilot, who had previously served with the RAF and had worked for British Aerospace as an instructor.

First Officer Dixon had only been with the company for three months, after qualifying as a pilot.

His parents Barry and Doreen Dixon, said it had been a "dream come true" when their son landed his job with the air company.

They were comforting Russell's girlfriend on Wednesday.

Speaking from their home in Abingdon, Mr Dixon said: "He was over the moon when he got the job. It was his first job as a pilot.

'Nice, caring man'

"He had applied for jobs with different airlines and kept getting the same letters back saying 'you haven't got enough flying hours'."

His son had previously worked as an engineer at the Rover car plant in Cowley before gaining his private pilot's licence a couple of years ago, having saved up for flying lessons.

Meanwhile, Canon Bertie Collie, a friend of the Mason family, described the senior captain as a "caring" family man and a very experienced pilot.

Canon Collie, who works with Mr Mason's wife Julia, who is a priest at the Episcopalian Holy Trinity church in Ayr, said: "He was a very nice, caring man who was also involved with the church.

"He was a very good chap and what has happened is a waste.

'Terrible news'

"He was very supportive of his wife and his children and they are devastated at this moment."

Loganair, a privately-owned company with a fleet of 14 aircraft serving 25 destinations in Scotland, has been working with officials from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch over the investigation.

A spokesman for Loganair said: "Their deaths are terrible news for all at Loganair. We are a tightly-knit team and we feel the loss very badly."

Police and air accident investigators were still at the scene on Wednesday overseeing the operation to recover wreckage from the area and to take witness statements.

An AAIB spokesman said the black box recorders would contain information about the aircraft systems and might reveal clues about the aircraft's last moments.