Their 17-year-old daughter Ella also penned a statement, describing her father as a “good man driven by family and a pure love of life”.
Addressing Platt, she said: “You didn’t mean to kill my dad, and all that died alongside him, but you must have known your actions could have killed someone.”
Mr Aitchison’s mother, Jeannette, told the court her son was a “family man, strong in body and mind”.
Speaking after the hearing, Det Sgt Matthew Davidson, of Lancashire Police, said: “I don’t doubt that Platt knew the devastation his actions could have caused.
“The dangers of using your phone whilst driving is so often spoken about, yet Platt recklessly ignored it. His selfish decision took the life of a father, partner, brother and son.”
Platt will serve two-thirds of his sentence in custody and on his release will be banned from driving for seven years.