“Titanic” Composer James Horner Feared Dead After His Plane Crashes in North Ventura County

A single-engine plane registered to Oscar-winning "Titanic" composer James Horner crashed Monday in North Ventura County, killing the pilot.

Horner's attorney Jay Cooper said the plane crashed at the Ventura and Santa Barbara County line on Monday. The crash happened in the area of Quatal Canyon Road and Highway 33.

Cooper said the plane was one of several owned by the 61-year-old composer, and that no one has heard from him since the crash.

"It was his plane and if he wasn't in it, he would've called," Cooper said. "He flies a lot and he's an experienced pilot."

The Hollywood Reporter identified Horner as the pilot of the plane when it went down, citing a Facebook post by the composer’s assistant Sylvia Patrycja. “A great tragedy has struck my family today, and I will not be around for a while,” Patrycja wrote on the social media site.

Actors, filmmakers and musicians took to social media to pay tribute to Horner's memory despite the absence of an official confirmation by the Oscar winner's spokesperson, family, aviation officials or law enforcement.

My sincere condolences to the family, loved ones and friends of James Horner. #abeautifulmind

— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) June 23, 2015

The plane was an S-312 Tucano MK1 turbo-prop with two seats, said Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Gregor said the agency issued an alert for a single-engine plane "after pilots reported white smoke in an area where the pilot indicated he would be flying."

Crews extinguished a fire that erupted in vegetation surrounding the remote crash site, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Horner has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning two for 1997's best picture, "Titanic." He composed the film's score and its enduring theme song, "My Heart Will Go On," sung by Celine Dion.

His scores for "Alien," ''Apollo 13," ''Field of Dreams," ''Braveheart," ''A Beautiful Mind," ''House of Sand and Fog" and "Avatar" also earned Oscar nods, as did his original song, "Somewhere Out There," from "An American Tail."