Skydiving visionary Paul Smith dies in plane crash at Moruya

A man killed in a devastating plane crash is being remembered as a visionary of the skydiving industry, with eight skydivers jumping from the plane he was piloting just minutes before it went down.

Paul Smith, 54, died yesterday when his aircraft crashed a stone’s throw from its base at Moruya Airport on the NSW south coast. The experienced pilot had more than 20 years of flying experience and was a respected figure in the thrill seeking world of skydiving.

In the dizzying sport of skydiving, few reached the heights of Paul Smith. Speaking in a podcast about his passion for aviation, he revealed his decades-long love affair with flight.

“How long have you been skydiving now? 37 years,” he said in the recording. “I mean, I always have loved to fly, and it’s probably more of my passion than anything. You know, aeroplanes and flying, just ask my wife about how much I look at aeroplanes.”

The pilot, base jumper and parachuter spoke passionately about the sport that defined his life.

“People get that big rush from swooping when you’re coming in close to the ground,” he explained.

Witnesses described the horrific moment the aircraft went down.

“It just started heading down really fast, spiralling, and then we just heard a big bang,” one witness said.

Tragically, this isn’t the first time the family has been struck by aviation tragedy. Paul’s father-in-law was also a respected flying instructor who was killed in a plane crash off Moruya.

“So he died in that plane crash, and we inherited his aeroplane, so we’ve had that ever since,” Smith had said, reflecting on the family’s connection to aviation despite the risks.

What Paul’s wife and his parachuting family don’t have now is answers, as investigations into the crash continue.