Family and friends have gathered to farewell a pilot who was killed in the Sea World helicopter crash last week. 

Ashley Jenkinson has been described as a first-class pilot, a first-class man and a wonderful father, partner and friend.

9News reporter Peter Fegan told Greg Cary the service will be “a great opportunity for the public to get a sense of what Jenko was like, the person he was”.

“He leaves behind, obviously, his wife and his child, which is incredibly sad but, you know, his kid and his wife, they’ll grow knowing what [he] was.

“He was a hero, he was a good fella, he was a true Queenslander and that’s how he’ll be remembered.”

Press PLAY below to hear Peter Fegan’s report in full