Tributes have been paid to a British family and a pilot killed on a seaplane that crashed north of Sydney on New Year’s Eve.

Police confirmed the deaths of the British businessman Richard Cousins, 58, his fiancee, Emma Bowden, 48, her daughter Heather, 11, and his sons Edward, 23, and Will, 25. The Australian pilot, Gareth Morgan, 44, also died when the aircraft he was flying crashed in Jerusalem Bay.

The six died when the plane flew into the Hawkesbury river near Cowan, north of Sydney, at about 3.10pm on Sunday. It was believed to be heading for Rose Bay on Sydney Harbour.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Richard Cousins was the chief executive officer of Compass Group. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Det Supt Mark Hutchings said authorities had been in contact with their British counterparts, but the coroner had yet to formally identify the victims.

On Monday the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the crash. “It is a tragic accident and … our hearts go out to the families of those whose lives were lost,” he told reporters at Bondi beach on Monday. “We don’t know yet what caused it, but it’s just a tragedy. We grieve for those who lost their lives.”

The plane had not yet been recovered as police assessed the logistics of refloating the wreckage. It will need to be brought back to the surface before air-crash investigators can look into what went wrong.



The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the incident.

Marc Bolland, the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer, was a friend of Richard Cousins, the chief executive of the catering company Compass. He said Cousins had met him for a coffee in London before Christmas to discuss life after the firm, from which he was due to step down in March.

“It’s extremely sad,” said Bolland, now a partner at the private equity firm Blackstone. “I saw him 10 days ago. He wanted to discuss ideas about how you start a new life after a big job – we discussed what kind of things he wanted to do. He wanted to stay active on the business and charitable side post-Compass. What makes the tragedy more immense is he was also starting a new personal life. He was as happy as I had ever seen him and was so looking forward to this new life.”

Bolland added: “I worked with him on the charitable side and he was supportive of new ideas on dementia, and the Movement to Work, helping young, desperate, unemployed people – Richard was a strong contributor to that.”

Chris King, the former communications director of Compass, worked closely with Cousins for more than five years. He said: ‘The company was on its knees when Richard took over [in 2006]. There was the whole Turkey Twizzler issue with Jamie Oliver, and the UN contract scandal, in which Compass was alleged to have put listening devices into the rooms of people bidding for UN contracts.

“I am not sure many people thought the company could have lasted more than two years and now, due to him, it is one of the best performing on the FTSE 100.”

King added: “He was quite exceptional. But the thing about Richard was he was a man of two parts – an extraordinary leader but he didn’t suffer fools gladly.”

Paul Walsh, the chairman of Compass Group, said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by this terrible news. The thoughts of everyone at Compass are with Richard’s family and friends, and we extend our deepest sympathies to them.”

Richard Cousins had also served as a non-executive director at HBOS, P&O and Reckitt Benckiser. Adrian Bellamy, chairman of RB, which makes Nurofen and Finish dishwasher tablets, paid tribute: “It has been a great privilege to know Richard, both personally and professionally.



“He was one of those rare examples of human beings who measured success by not only what he achieved for the companies he led, but also by the significant humanitarian contributions he made. It was a pleasure working on the board where he contributed in shaping RB current strategy.”

Lisa Byrne, a friend and former colleague of Emma Bowden, described her as the Grace Kelly of OK! Magazine, where Bowden worked as art editor. Byrne, the former editor-in-chief, said: “She was quite regal, very serene, and very well educated. My first impressions of her were that she was lovely; a very kind person. She was such a wonderful, calming influence in the office, and I never heard her grumble.

“Her absolute main priority was her daughter Heather. My heart just goes out to their families and their loved ones – this has just been awful. I’m just utterly devastated, really.”

Will Cousins worked for Open Britain, the group campaigning against a hard Brexit. Roland Rudd, the chair of Open Britain, said the group was devastated by his loss.

“Will was an extraordinary young man who was passionate about what he did, who took deep pride in his work, and came into the office every day with enthusiasm, energy and determination,” Rudd said.

“Will saw his role at Open Britain as more than a job. For him, it was a cause akin to a crusade to stop Britain crashing out of the EU with no deal or a bad deal.”

Chuka Umunna, the Labour MP for Streatham, said he was devastated to hear of Will Cousins’ death. “I got to know Will very well, first through the Stronger IN campaign, then afterwards at Open Britain – where he has played a crucial role – and through @LeaveWatch, which he helped establish,” Umunna said on Twitter.

“Will was an absolute pleasure to work with, utterly dedicated to the cause, dynamic and full of enthusiasm. He went about things with great heart and humour. He had his whole life ahead of him and one cannot compute that it has been taken from him. We’ll all miss him so much.”

James McGrory (@JamesMcGrory) I have lost a great friend and @Open_Britain have lost part of our soul today. Will Cousins was not just the most brilliant colleague, he was an amazing person. We only have fond memories, which we will treasure.

June Sarpong MBE (@junesarpong) Devasted to hear about the tragic passing of my @Open_Britain colleague Will Cousins. He was a talented, smart, fun and brilliant individual with so much more left to give our country, such a sad loss for us all. May he rest in peace. #Gonetoosoon https://t.co/eSl8sfMKhu

The operator of the seaplane, Sydney Seaplanes, provides tours of some of the city’s most popular tourist sites, including the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, Pittwater and the Hawkesbury river region. The company’s managing director, Aaron Shaw, said the pilot Gareth Morgan had more than 10,000 hours of flying time, with 9,000 of those on seaplanes.

“On a personal level, he was deeply respected and liked by me and all of the team at Sydney Seaplanes, as a man and as a pilot,” Shaw said. “He flew my family and I to Palm Beach just before Christmas. We are devastated by his loss.”

Shaw offered his condolences to the Cousins and Bowden families. He said he had spoken to Morgan’s parents in Canada, and had offered to bring them to Australia.

Sydney Seaplanes has suspended all flights until further notice. People with bookings will be refunded. Shaw said maintenance books and flight logs had been handed over to the investigators.

“We have an open book on all of this,” he told reporters. “We are confident that we have done everything we possibly can to avoid this situation. The police have asked for a number of documents, which we provided immediately and will continue to do so to any other relevant agencies.

“We do not yet know the cause of the accident and are dedicating our full resources to assist the NSW police, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, civil aviation safety authority and other relevant authorities to understand the cause of the accident.”

Shaw said Sydney Seaplanes’ four aircraft were professionally maintained to manufacturers’ specifications.

Planes were checked over at the end of each day, and after every 100 hours of flying time they were removed from the water for maintenance. Engines are replaced after 1,100 hours of flying time; the engine on the plane that crashed had flown 200 hours.

The company had operated thousands of flights with an unblemished safety record before Sunday’s accident, Shaw said.

Play Video 0:47 Police name victims in Sydney seaplane crash – video

He said conditions on Sunday had been “benign” for flying. “It was about a 15-knot northerly wind, which is perfect weather conditions. It was a lovely day.”

One witness to the crash, Myles Baptiste, told Channel Nine the plane was 500 metres from him when it hit the water. “It made a tight right-hand turn and as it actually turned around, the wings dipped and it nosedived straight into the water,” he said.

Richard Cousins had also served on the board of the supermarket Tesco, and had previously been named as one of the world’s 100 best-performing chief executives by the Harvard Business Review.

The British Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance to the victims’ families.

Additional reporting by Rupert Steiner.