James Horner, the Hollywood composer who wrote the score for the Oscar-winning film hit Titanic, has died in a California plane crash aged 61, BBC News reports.

He is reported to have been alone aboard a two-seater single-engine plane which crashed north of Santa Barbara on Monday, June 22 morning.

The two-time Oscar winner worked on three James Cameron films, as well as A Beautiful Mind, Troy and Apollo 13.

He won one Oscar for the Titanic film score and one for its theme song.

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