James Horner, Film Composer for 'Titanic' and 'Braveheart,' Dies in Plane Crash 

James Horner, Film Composer for 'Titanic' and 'Braveheart,' Dies in Plane Crash

The two-time Oscar winner, 61, worked on three James Cameron films, two \'Star Trek\' movies and classics like \'A Beautiful Mind,\' \'Field of Dreams\' and \'Apollo 13.\'

James Horner, the consummate film composer known for his heart-tugging scores for

, for which he won two Academy Awards, died Monday in a plane crash near Santa Barbara. He was 61.

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," Patrycja wrote on Facebook on Monday. "He died doing what he loved. Thank you for all your support and love and see you down the road."

Horner was piloting a single-engine S312 Tucano turboprop plane 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.

Horner's agency, Gorfaine/Schwartz, said in a statement released Tuesday: "It is with the deepest regret and sorrow that we mourn the tragic passing of our dear colleague, long-time client and great friend, composer James Horner. ... Our thoughts and prayers are with James' family at this difficult time, and also with the millions of people around the world who loved his music. A shining light has been extinguished, which can never be replaced." 

"It has been an honor and a privilege to have worked with James since the inception of our agency," the statement continued. "For more than three decades, his unique creative genius made an indelible imprint on each of our lives and on those of the entire Hollywood community. There is not a person in our GSA family who wasn’t touched by the power and reach of his music, and who isn’t diminished by his loss."

Read More James Cameron’s Tribute to Composer James Horner: "The Orchestra Loved Him"

, 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.

“My job — and it’s something I discuss with Jim all the time — is to make sure at every turn of the film it’s something the audience can feel with their heart,” Horner said in a 2009 interview with the

. “When we lose a character, when somebody wins, when somebody loses, when someone disappears — at all times I’m keeping track, constantly, of what the heart is supposed to be feeling. That is my primary role.”

His fruitful partnership with Cameron also netted him Oscar noms for original score for the blockbusters

(2009). The pair reportedly were also at work on

The Los Angeles native earned 10 Oscar noms in all, also being recognized for his work on two other best picture winners:

Always busy, Horner has three films coming out soon: 

, the boxing drama that stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams and is due in theaters in July; Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 

, a drama based on the 2010 mining disaster in Chile that’s set for November.

His father was two-time Oscar-winning art director/set designer Harry Horner 

Survivors include his wife Sara and daughters Emily and Becky.

Read More James Horner's Most Memorable Scores: From 'Titanic' to 'Avatar'

Horner spoke about the state of his career in a December interview with David Hocquet.

“I’m much choosier,” he said. “I don’t want to be doing these movies that now 85 or 90 composers want, as opposed to six. And now all these movies, action movies. I don’t get offered all the movies obviously, but I see a lot of them and I do get asked to do a lot of them, and I just know they’re not asking me to do something that I can do something original, they’re asking me to do a formula and I’m too rebellious.”

A great tragedy has struck my family today, and I will not be around for a while. I would like some privacy and time to...

Posted by Sylvia Patrycja on Monday, June 22, 2015

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