James Horner, ‘Wrath of Khan’ Composer, Dies in Plane Crash

Composer James Horner, who scored Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, died on Monday in a plane crash in California. He was 61.

According to Variety, Horner was piloting a two-seater single-engine S312 Tucano alone, which crashed north of Santa Barbara at around 9:30 AM on Monday.

Scoring more than 100 films, Horner was one of the most popular and sought-after film composers of the last 30 years. In addition to his work on two Star Trek films, his credits include such blockbusters as Apollo 13 , Braveheart, Avatar, Willow, Cocoon, Field of Dreams, The Land Before Time, The Rocketeer, Appollo 13, Jumanji, The Perfect Storm, Troy and The Amazing Spider-Man. In 1998, he won two Academy Awards for his work on Titanic .

On Monday night, Horner’s assistant wrote on Facebook: “We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent [who] died doing what he loved.”

I"m so sad to hear about James Horner..He scored the first movie I did..Star Trek 2…great composer..great person…huge loss

— Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) June 23, 2015

James Horner, you captured the heart and spirit of Avatar. Your legacy will live through the amazing work you leave us behind.

— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) June 23, 2015