Experienced pilot killed in light plane crash had tragic past

The businessman and pilot killed in a light plane crash with his partner on the NSW Mid North Coast yesterday had lost his wife and another girlfriend in recent years.

Finance executive Grant Burley and his fiancee Suzanne Rohleder were killed when the twin-engine Cessna 310 came down in bushland about 4km north of Johns River yesterday afternoon.

The aircraft was travelling from Toowoomba in Queensland to Taree when it crashed into trees off the edge of the Pacific Highway southbound, just 400m from a private airstrip.

The bodies of the couple, who had recently become engaged, were found at the scene.

Originally from Melbourne, Mr Burley divided his time between Sydney and the Mid North Coast.

Mr Burley's family is no stranger to tragedy.

In 2014, Mr Burley's wife of two decades Kym died in her sleep.

Then last year, as he tried to rebuild his life, his girlfriend Klaire Sampson was killed in a motorcycle crash.

"You wonder why, sometimes, life can be this cruel," friend Cheryl Galatai said today.

The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau will investigate the cause of the fatal crash and a report will be prepared for the Coroner.