A man from the West Midlands has died when a stunt plane in which he was a passenger crashed into the sea off the coast of Australia.

Ian Lovell, from Shifnal, had been bought a £228 place on the doomed flight by his girlfriend as a present.

The 35-year-old’s body was recovered from the wreckage of the converted Russian Yak-52 stunt plane along with that of the pilot, 60-year-old Australian flying legend Barry Hempel.

Investigators are looking into the theory that veteran aerobatics champion Mr Hempel was not licensed to carry paying passengers.

The plane crashed into the sea off South Stradbroke Island, Queensland, at around 12.30pm local time on Sunday.

Witnesses reported seeing the red stunt plane perform a series of dives and loops before going into a steep dive and then plummeting into the ocean.

His family in Shifnal today said a relative was flying out to Australia and would be there for around two weeks.