Titanic composer James Horner has died, after a small plane registered in his name crashed near Santa Barbara.

The two-time Oscar winner's assistant Sylvia Patrycja confirmed his death on Facebook, while frequent collaborator Ron Howard paid tribute to Horner on Twitter.

"We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent," Patrycja said. "He died doing what he loved. Thank you for all your support."

Director Howard wrote: "Brilliant Composer James Horner, friend & collaborator on 7 movies has tragically died in a plane crash. My heart aches for his loved ones."

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department received an emergency call at 9.30am local time on Monday (June 22), reporting a plane crash in the Los Padres national forest.

Earlier, Horner's attorney Jay Cooper said: "It was his plane and if he wasn't in it, he would've called."

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was a two-seater S-312 Tucano MK1 turbo-prop.

Horner composed the scores for the likes of Apollo 13, Braveheart, A Beautiful Mind, Jumanji, The Amazing Spider-Man, Legends of the Fall and Avatar. He was also working on the soundtracks for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3.

In 1997, he won two Oscars for his work on Titanic, one of which went to Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On', which he co-wrote with Will Jennings.