North East filmmaker Mathew Farrell dies in plane crash in Upper Murray

On Tuesday tributes from around the world poured in for Mathew Farrell who has been described as a passionate man who died "doing what he loved" - flying.

Mr Farrell, 42, took off from Mount Beauty Airport in his newly bought Jabiru light aircraft late in the morning on his way to Wollongong to visit his father.

Mount Beauty Airport supervisor Mark Bland saw Mr Farrell take off on Sunday morning in what he said looked like "a routine flight".

"The weather wasn't great but wasn't too bad," Mr Bland said. "The rain had eased off but there was a lot of low cloud around.

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"Every pilot makes his own decision in their interpretation of the weather but my personal view is the conditions weren't ideal.

"I saw him heading down towards Albury."

An alert was raised when Mr Farrell didn't arrive on schedule at Wollongong, sparking a search around bushland near Tallangatta.

Police found the plane wreckage in rugged country near Lucyvale on Monday and confirmed Mr Farrell was dead at the scene.

The veteran filmmaker and photographer had worked with the ABC, BBC, and Discovery Channel making several features, short films, commercials and documentaries, and had explored Antarctica, Patagonia and other rugged locations in Asia.

He was renowned as a paraglider, polar explorer, mountain guide and Zodiac boat driver.

Australian Cinematographers Society members in Tasmania, where Mr Farrell worked as a newspaper photographer before he moved to Victoria, said he would be remembered for his spirit of adventure.

"Mat will be very fondly remembered by many ... especially in the filmmaking and media industries, where he was greatly respected," a society spokesman said.

"Always good company, passionate and energetic member of the ACS, we shall miss him.

"So sad you're gone but so glad you lived your life full of adventure and achieved so much in your 42 years."

Colleagues who worked with him on the 2018 feature ICEolation with cinematographer Ewan Blyth, said Mr Farrell was a "brilliant filmmaker".

"Mat was so much more to us than a brilliant film editor - a grounded and beautiful soul, a sounding board, an adventure buddy, a respected colleague, and a dear, dear friend," their website said.

"We are grateful for the time we were granted with this exceptional human and this film will forever be a tribute to him."

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