Tributes to plane crash victims

Councillor Smith was believed to have been at the controls

A couple that were killed in a light aircraft crash with their daughter were flying back from celebrating their wedding anniversary, their family said.

John Smith, 56, wife Angela, 55, and daughter Jacqueline, 25, died when their aircraft crashed on farmland near Oban in the west of Scotland on Monday.

Mr and Mrs Smith, who lived in Essex, had been celebrating their 31st wedding anniversary with their daughter.

A family statement said: "They were always the life and soul of the party."

The statement said they were both at the forefront of the community social life in Burnham-on-Crouch and had a wide group of friends.

'Caring'

Mr Smith was heavily involved in local politics for Burnham-on-Crouch and Maldon District, eventually becoming mayor of Burnham and leader of Maldon District Council.

He would have been standing for re-election to the council on 3 May, but the election in his ward has been suspended.

Mrs Smith was described by her relatives as a caring, considerate and giving person who always had time for her friends and family.

The crash happened at a remote location near Oban

Miss Smith was due to start a career as a personal assistant in London.

The Piper Arrow 111 carrying the family, which took off from Oban on Monday morning before being lost from radar screens, was heading for Andrewsfield, Great Saling, in Essex.

Wreckage which was spread over a 400m area above Loch Scammadale was found by sheep farmer Angus McFadyen and his son at 1525 BST on Tuesday.

The surviving Smith children - teacher Christina, 26, and Richard, 21, who is a student - said they would both remember their parents and sister "with nothing but love and a sense of being extremely lucky to have had such a wonderful family life."

The accident investigation is expected to last several weeks.