for the first time ever, my wife has just stated she does not want me to go flying anymore.
CF, this accident is a terrible tragedy, but doesn't your wife realise that you're more at risk on the roads than in a light aircraft? It's just publicised much more when it's an aircraft.
I know your wife won't want to see it this way just now, but we all take calculated risks every day, in all walks of our lives. With our aircraft, we take much less risk - because we prepare far more thoroughly for flying than we do for just about any of the other "hazardous" activities of our normal daily lives. My other half has given up trying to dissuade me from flying.
None of us know what happened with this poor soul in this accident and I feel very, very sad for his family and friends.