Tributes paid to ‘incredible’ mother-of-four, 44, after she was killed in plane crash near airfield

The family of a ‘deeply devoted’ mother-of-four who died following a light aircraft crash have paid tribute to her ‘adventurous spirit’.

Nicola Wright, 44, was flying solo when her plane crashed near Dunkeswell Airfield in Devon.

Emergency services attended just after 10am last Friday, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Nicola, from Dorset, has now been described as an ‘incredible mother’ and ‘amazing woman’.

Devon and Cornwall Police is currently working with the Air Accident Investigation Branch to investigate the fatal crash.

In a statement, her devastated family said: ‘Nicola was an incredible mother to her four children, a wife, daughter, sister and much-loved friend to many.

‘She was the heart of the family and will be missed beyond words.

‘She was a positive, brave and determined person who lived life with an adventurous spirit.

Her family have paid tribute to her ‘adventurous spirit’ following the crash last Friday

Nicola Wright was also an accomplished mountaineer and had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in recent months

Emergency services arrived at the scene following the crash near Dunkeswell Airfield in Devon 

‘She was an accomplished aerobatic pilot, skydiver, diver and mountaineer who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro earlier this year.

‘She approached everything she did with passion and courage.

‘Nicola was HR director at Medisave, a global medical and pharmaceutical distributor, and was a vital part of building Medisave alongside the founders, Graham Wright, her husband and Melissa Denton her longtime friend.

‘Nicola was an amazing, deeply devoted and loving mother. Her four young children were everything to her, and she has shaped who they are in every way, they are devastated for the loss of their beautiful mother.

‘Nicola was, quite simply, an amazing woman.’

Dunkeswell Airfield is in the Blackdown Hills, about 14 miles northeast of Exeter, and was a US naval base during the Second World War.

At 839ft (255m) above sea level, the site is the highest licensed airfield in the country.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the family are devastated by Nicola’s loss and have asked for privacy as they grieve.

Dunkeswell Airfield has previously been at the centre of three fatalities within the past year.

Skydiver Charles McNeil, known as Chas, plummeted to the ground after his parachute failed to deploy for ‘some unknown reason’, an inquest heard in March.

The 49-year-old former soldier had been doing a wingsuit jump with a friend in February when he died using his own personal parachute equipment, according to Skydive South West.

His death followed that of two people last June when their parachutes failed to open during a tandem jump from 15,000 feet.

Inquests into the deaths of mum-of-four Belinda Taylor, 48, and instructor Adam Harrison, 30, were opened previously by Devon Coroner’s Court in Exeter.

British Skydiving, the police and local authority are all investigating the deaths and inquests have been adjourned to a later date.