The pilot in last Friday's fatal plane crash on the Nullarbor has been identified as 43-year-old Perth father-of-two Michael Hebbard, described as a "loving partner" and "doting dad".
Mr Hebbard was the sole occupant on board when he crashed an amateur-built Jabiru recreational plane at Caiguna, about 370km east of Norseman.
An online crowd-funding campaign set up to raise money for his family has generated about $10,000 so far.
"He has left behind his loving family, Kristen, and two young children, who have been devastated by his loss," Shelly Thompson posted on gofundme.com.
"Mike was a loving man who was always there for his family, he was a loving partner, a doting dad, and a great friend and neighbour.
"He was the guy everyone knew and liked and we will miss him so much."
According to his social media accounts, he served 10 years in the Royal Australian Navy and studied for a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Curtin University.
"Mike was one of the most genuine, down-to-earth guys you were ever likely to meet and I wanted to do something to try and give something back to his partner Kristen and two young kids Finn and Stella at this terribly difficult time for them," Linton Allen posted on gofundme.com.
Cause of crash still undetermined
WA Police completed an initial investigation at the remote site over the weekend and the cause of the crash was yet to be determined.
Police said the plane crashed about 500 metres from the Caiguna Roadhouse, just off Eyre Highway, after taking off from the local airstrip.
He was making a stopover from Esperance and was believed to be transporting the aircraft to Queensland.
Esperance Detectives took on the case after the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) declined to investigate, saying it typically did not investigate recreational aircraft accidents.
Recreational Aviation Australia (RAA) criticised the move, saying it wrote to the Minister for Transport Catherine King in November raising concerns about the ATSB's inability to conduct investigations due to limited funding.
"We have seen at least five fatal accidents in the past 12 months and many in the years prior where the ATSB has chosen to not investigate," RAA chief executive Matt Bouttell wrote in the letter.
"This equates to a significant cost to the Australian people through awaiting State Coroners to arrive at findings that often result in diminished safety outcomes due to a lack of subject matter expertise during the investigation and evidence-gathering phase.
"Moreover, Australian families are effectively forbidden from obtaining closure due to those deficient outcomes."
Mr Boutell told the ABC that RAA has provided police with technical support in the past, but it has no legislative powers to conduct fatal accident investigations.
"We have previously provided police with on-site support at accidents, including performing analysis around the circumstances of the accident however, in recent times it's become clear that due to the lack of legislative protections, we cannot keep 'propping up' the ATSB by doing so," he said.
"We have therefore said enough is enough, and that the Government should fund the ATSB for the purpose it is established for."
