Mr Parker is from East Gippsland and was a well-known logging contractor in Benambra before he moved to Fiji several years ago to start an owner-operator helicopter charter business. A long-time friend of Mr Parker's, former East Gippsland councillor Ben Buckley, said family and friends had been informed of the crash at the weekend and were shocked by the news. "We are all feeling it, all right," he said. "He was an amazing fellow. "He was a very fit fellow and he could put his hand to anything. He was quite athletic and everything he took on he seemed to go at it with great enthusiasm. It's really a blow." Mr Buckley said his friend of 25 years had become passionate about flying several decades ago.

"He took to it like a duck to water. He got a helicopter about 15 years ago and amazed us all by learning to fly the thing and getting his licence in just three weeks. He could put his mind to anything," he said. "He kept his youthful enthusiasm and was always pressing forward to improve things." After several visits to Fiji, Mr Parker decided to set up his business in a resort at Savusavu on the northern Fijian island of Vanua Levu. He provided scenic tours, transfers to and from surrounding islands and medical evacuations.

"He put an awful lot of effort and expense into it, but he got the show going and he rang me every week. He had built up a clientele ... he was getting quite an operation going and he was just getting there, building up something," said Mr Buckley. The Fiji Sun reports Mr Parker has two adult children, who were arriving in Fiji on Monday. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man involved in a fatal helicopter accident in Fiji. The search entered its third day on Monday. Credit:Fiji Police Force/Facebook A hotel worker in Savusavu told The Fiji Times that Mr Parker had told him on Friday night he would be returning later that evening after the medical evacuation.

The hotel worker said Mr Parker was well liked. “He is a kind man, and kind to everyone,” the hotel worker said. “Anyone who needed help, Gil, as he was known, would always be the first to offer help.” Fijian Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said in a statement to the Fiji Sun that authorities had confirmed one fatality on the helicopter, and they were continuing the search for two other people. "On behalf of the Department of Civil Aviation and the Fijian people, we extend our deepest sympathies to all of the victims' families at this unimaginably difficult time," he said.

The Department of Civil Aviation in Fiji has appointed Andrew McGregor, an air accident investigator from New Zealand, to examine the crash's cause. Mr Parker spoke to the Fiji Sun in December last year, saying he fell in love with Savusavu after spending a holiday there about four years ago. He returned to start Savusavu Helicopters shortly after. "I have a passion for flying, having owned a helicopter for many years," he told the Fiji Sun. "I decided to start this business in Savusavu because there was no other helicopter company in Northern Fiji and I wanted to be able to to share the beauty of Savusavu and Northern Fiji with the tourists and locals. "I also hope that having a helicopter service here will greatly benefit the locals, as the response time to access a medevac will be a lot faster."

He said he flew a Robinson R44, which carries three passengers plus the pilot.