PILOT Ian Dickinson and his wife were a devoted couple and the final thing he might have done was to save her life, mourners in Alderney suggested yesterday.

The couple were flying home to Alderney from Lee-on-Solent on Saturday when their light aircraft ditched about 25 miles north-west of Guernsey. Anne-Marie Dickinson, 78, escaped unhurt but it is understood that her husband, 79, was trapped inside and sank with the plane.

Friends yesterday described their heartbreak at the news, describing the couple’s love for each other.

When tragedy struck, it is understood that Mr Dickinson managed to ditch the plane in such a way that allowed his wife to scramble out and survive using the aircraft’s inflatable life raft.