A SCOTS building tycoon who was killed when his plane went down over the Irish Sea left £6.5 million in his will.
Ian Stirling was flying solo from his home on the Isle of Man to Blackpool when the aircraft disappeared from radar.
The 73-year-old had been due to land at Blackpool Airport, but a major search and rescue operation was launched after the plane failed to arrive.
The Rockwell Commander plane was later discovered buried deep in the seabed, but Mr Stirling’s body could not be recovered.
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Mr Stirling crashed into the water after encountering stormy weather in December last year.
He served as a director with Bridge-of-Allan building company Allanwater Developments before his son David took over the multimillion-pound business.
His published will has now revealed he had an estate totalling £6,558,526 at the time of his death.
He ordered it should be passed to his widow Elizabeth. The couple have three sons, David, Mark and Jamie.
Legal papers show his fortune was made up of properties worth £2.25m shares in Allanwater Developments valued at £3.2m and personal effects totalling £150,000.Mr Stirling also had about £900,000 of other investments.
A memorial service was held for him in Dunblane Cathedral in January and was attended by family and friends.
At the time of the accident Mr Stirling’s family had told of their hopes he would be found.
A spokesman said: “Ian was an experienced pilot who had flown this route many times. We are obviously in shock at what has happened and hoping against hope that he may be found alive.
“We’d like to thank everyone for their love and support at this difficult time and we would ask to be left alone to come to terms with what has happened.”
An inquest later recorded a verdict of accidental death and coroner Alan Wilson said the businessman’s family had taken the decision that they would prefer his remains were left in the downed plane.
Mr Wilson said it was unusual to hold an inquest without a body, and could not offer a cause of death, but said he was satisfied Glasgow-born Mr Stirling remained inside the aircraft.
The inquest came soon after an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said the plane’s cockpit was likely breached when the plane crashed at a dangerously low speed and acute angle.
Mr Stirling was reported missing on December 3 after he failed to return to Blackpool Airport. He was described as an “experienced pilot” and had been flying a Rockwell Commander aircraft when it disappeared from radar three miles off the Isle of Man shortly after 9am. Investigators believe he crashed in the Irish Sea during poor weather conditions.
He was the only person on board the light aircraft and was a regular flyer on the route.
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Search teams later recovered debris off the Lancashire coast and found traces of a fuel spillage, but Mr Stirling has never been found.
The businessman was understood to split his time between the Isle of Man and his home in Stirling.
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