Welsh businessman Owain Davies has been killed in a plane crash in the Swiss Alps alongside two friends.
The 55-year-old engineering boss was travelling in a Cirrus SR22T when it crashed near Leukerbad in the southern Swiss canton of Valais on Tuesday. One of the other victims was also British.
The aircraft had taken off from Sion airport in the Rhône Valley and collided with the northern slope of a mountain in the Fluhalp area around 10 minutes later, officials said.
Local police said the crash happened shortly after 4pm and that “signs of smoke were subsequently reported in the region”. The cause remains unknown.
Firefighters, police and helicopter rescue teams attended the scene. The Swiss Transportation Safety Board is investigating, alongside Valais Police and the Office of the Attorney General.
Mr Davies, a father of two and grandfather, took over Amcanu, the engineering company founded by his father Spencer Davies OBE in 1975, in 2000. The business is based in Burry Port, South Wales.
In a tribute, Amcanu described him as “an unstoppable force”, a mentor and “a very good friend” to many who had spent much of their working lives at the firm.
“Above everything else, he was a husband, father and grandfather,” the company said.
Amcanu said Mr Davies was a “real character” who was “determined, strong-willed, spirited, reflective and immensely proud”. It added that he was a proud Welshman and Welsh speaker.
The company said aviation had been a genuine passion for Mr Davies, who was an experienced pilot and flew his helicopter when he had the opportunity.
“At the time of the accident, Owain was travelling as a passenger, alongside two of his closest friends,” it said.
Mr Davies had been a trustee of Wales Air Ambulance Charity since 2017. The charity’s chair of trustees, Dr Kyle Jacques, said he had made a “significant contribution” to its work and the service it provides.
“Owain was a valued colleague and friend, whose loyalty and generosity of spirit meant so much to us. He will be greatly missed,” Dr Jacques said.
Mr Davies’s son, Aron Davies, said the family had suffered “an unimaginable loss”, describing his father as “driven, determined and someone who simply didn’t accept that a problem was too big to solve”.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was providing support to the families of two British nationals who died in Switzerland.
Formal identification of the other two victims is under way.
