Former Adelaide car dealer Grant Gilbert has tragically died in a light plane crash.
Gilbert, who used to own Gilbert Motors at Mt Barker for decades, was taking teenager Emily Redding and her mother Tracy on an Angel Flight from Mount Gambier to Adelaide on Wednesday, adelaidenow.com.au reports.
Mt Gambier Holden dealer Peter Roberts was a friend of Gilbert for 45 years.
Roberts says Gilbert, 78, will be a sorely missed in the local community.
Gilbert was “out there, passionate about the things in his life and always outspoken,” Roberts says.
“He was certainly an icon in the car industry.”
Roberts says he was worried when Gilbert turned to flying in his 70s.
“He said he was never too old. But without beating around the bush, I thought if he was ever going to go this is the way he’d go.”
Gilbert was also served his community as a member of the local council and hospital board.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is looking into the cause of the crash.
Police say conditions were foggy at the time.
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