Canadian-born Gareth Morgan "committed every flight to the Lord" and was "a warrior for Christ", according to the 44-year-old's flatmate Luke Thornley.
Mr Morgan was flying with five members of a British family on board a Sydney Seaplanes service in Australia when the aircraft crashed into the Hawkesbury River - there were no survivors.
Mr Thornley told the Australian Daily Telegraph: "He read the Bible every day and would always say a prayer to bless every plane he flew and keep him and his passengers safe before flying.
"When I'd come home at night he would have praise and worship songs playing on his 60-inch TV on YouTube."
The other victims of the incident have been named as 58-year-old chief executive of the FTSE 100 Compass Group catering company Richard Cousins, his sons Will, 25, and Edward, 23, his fiancée Emma Bowden, 48, and her eleven-year-old daughter Heather.
Mr Morgan attended the Pentecostal Jubilee Church in eastern Sydney.
An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and New South Wales Marine Area Command into the crash is underway.
The wreckage of the De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft was partially recovered from the river on Thursday.