Heartbreaking tributes to father and son who died in gyrocopter crash

Tributes have flowed for the 51-year-old father and 18-year-old son who died in a gyrocopter crash in Western Australia.

Friends of the victims have shared heartbreaking tributes and what they believe is the pair’s last photo together.

The photo of Robert Waughman and his son James was taken only hours before their gyrocopter plunged into the ocean off a beach near Capel.

In it, they stand in front of the machine they would later die in.

Childhood friends say 18-year-old James was proud of the family’s light aircraft and had always wanted to become a professional pilot.

“He was doing what he loved, same as his Dad,” friend Kristian Rados said.

“He was just one of the greatest people I know and he didn’t deserve to go.”

In just one freak moment, his mother lost her only son and husband.

“My heart just bleeds at the moment,” James’ Jujitsu coach Carlos Coelho said.

“Being a father myself, it’s difficult, it’s difficult.”

Just before the gyrocopter crashed into the water, windy conditions lashed the stretch of coastline.

The aircraft, which is only about four and a half metres long, didn’t stand a chance in the weather conditions.

On Thursday, police divers searched the waters off Forrest Beach, near Capel in the state’s south-west, for clues as to what went wrong.

The wreckage, including a ripped-off rotor blade, was pulled from the water.

Investigators will now try to determine if mechanical failure, weather conditions or human error were to blame.

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