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The 22-year-old pilot who died in a plane crash in outback South Australia has been remembered as a happy-go-lucky young man on the first step towards his dreams.
Adam Snell died after the light plane he was flying crashed about 800 kilometres from Adelaide about 9.30am yesterday.
"He will always be our boy," Snell's mother Alison said.
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The 22-year-old graduated from aviation school in New Zealand last year.
His move to the outback was the first step towards his dream of becoming a professional pilot and flying around the world.
"He'll never grow old and that's how we remember him," Mrs Snell said
Snell had been working on Mulgathing Station, south-west of Coober Pedy.
His mother was today holding close her memories of his mile-wide smile.
"Everyone loved him, he was a really happy-go-lucky, easy-going guy," she said.
"He had a strong moral compass, he knew what was right."
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the cause of the crash.
It said there could be risks with low-level flying when mustering and other farm operations.
"The reality is when you are low and at slow speed, if something does go wrong then you have very little opportunities to rectify that, and that does seem to be the case in this instance," ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said.
