2010 file photo of James Horner at the 82nd annual Academy Awards Nominee Luncheon in Beverly Hills, California. Image courtesy: AFP
Los Angeles:
Hollywood composer James Horner, who scored the Oscar-winning film
Titanic and its mega-hit theme song
My Heart Will Go On, died in a plane crash in southern California on Monday, USA media reported.
The aircraft came down in the Los Padres National Forest, north of Los Angeles, triggering a fire that charred more than an acre of brush, local fire authorities said.
Hollywood stars such as Russell Crowe and Kirstie Alley paid tribute to Mr Horner on Twitter after The Hollywood Reporter and Variety magazine reported he had died in his private plane.
Director Ron Howard, who worked with him in
A Beautiful Mind, wrote:
Here's what other celebrities tweeted:
Mr Horner, 61, won two Academy Awards for his work on
Titanic, one for the score and one shared with lyricist Will Jennings for best original song -
My Heart Will Go On, performed by Celine Dion.
Mr Horner also composed the music for
Aliens, The Karate Kid, Braveheart and a string of other major films. His scores for
Avatar, A Beautiful Mind and
House of Sand and
Fog earned him Oscar nominations.
His attorney Jay Cooper earlier told Reuters he had not heard from Mr Horner since the crash, but could not confirm whether he was on board at the time. "He's an experienced pilot, but I know nothing else," Mr Cooper had said.
The Ventura County Fire Department said the plane crashed at 9:30 a.m. (1630 GMT Sunday) and there were no survivors. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.