TRIBUTES have flooded in for a former Hedge End man who died after the helicopter in which he was sightseeing crashed into the Grand Canyon.

Jonathan Udall, 32, died in a Las Vegas hospital on Thursday, 12 days after the incident, Clark County coroner John Fudenberg confirmed.

His wife, Ellie Milward, with whom he was on honeymoon at the time, remains in a critical condition, according to a source.

Tributes have since flooded in for Mr Udall, who attended Wildern School and whose family is from Hedge End.

One person to pay his respects was friend Chris Tucker, from Fareham, who set up a crowdfunding page in a bid to help Mr Udall and his wife following the crash.

Writing on the page, which has raised almost £22,000, Mr Tucker wrote: "It is with a very heavy heart that I must type this.

“Our good friend Jon Udall has succumb to his injuries.

"He was strong, brave and I will never forget him. I will update this page when possible.

"Ellie is critical and is continuing to fight."

Another to comment on the page was, Chris Nicolaou.

He said: “So sad to hear this news. Jon was a great guy, he’ll be sadly missed. RIP.”

One anonymous poster said: “I had the privilege of working with Jon and Ellie at YBS and they were unanimously liked by everyone.

“Absolutely devastated and heartbroken!”

The pair were part of a group of six British friends on the helicopter at the time of the crash.

Three of the friends, Becky Dobson, 27 and brothers Stuart Hill, 30, Jason Hill, 32, a graduate of the University of Southampton, died in the crash.

Mr Udall his wife, and friend Jennifer Barham, 39, were airlifted to University Medical Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to local news.

The helicopter's pilot, Scott Booth, 42, was also taken to hospital.

The incident took place during a storm on the Hualapai Nation reservation near the Grand Canyon’s West Rim, around 5.20pm local time on Saturday, February 10.

Dramatic images of the crash site show the wreckage lying at the bottom of a canyon, engulfed in flames.

Local media reports claim it took rescuers more than eight hours to get to the survivors and they were not airlifted from the scene until around 2am on Sunday.

The helicopter tour was run by Papillon.