_ct140x105.jpg "AND SO IT BEGINS: The clean up around town has already started, people armed with brooms and buckets have taken to the Gladstone Valley Square Shopping Centre to flush out the floodwater and mess.")
Seaplane crash pilot to be farewelled today
THE Canadian pilot who died when his seaplane crashed into a river north of Sydney killing a UK millionaire and four other family members will be farewelled at a funeral service today.
Gareth Morgan, 44, died on New Year's Eve when the DHC-2 Beaver owned by Sydney Seaplanes crashed into Jerusalem Bay on the Hawkesbury River.
His family arrived in Sydney last week and will today gather with friends at Waverley's Jubilee Church to lay to rest the man they describe as a "wonderful and caring son and brother".
Mr Morgan died along with high-profile UK businessman Richard Cousins, his adult sons Edward and William, his fiancee Emma Bowden and her 11-year-old daughter Heather, when the plane plunged into the water.
Mr Morgan's family has thanked police and emergency services, along with several civilians who dived into the river after the crash and attempted to free the plane's occupants.
Aviation experts are working to determine what caused the aircraft to crash.
