Date:	Saturday 26 January 1952
Time:	afternoon
Type:	Auster J/5B Autocar
Owner/operator:	Mr. S. Heaney
Registration:	VH-KBF
MSN:	2937
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Dingo Creek, 3 miles North of Sandy Hollow, near Denman, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Newcastle, NSW
Destination airport:	Coolah, NSW
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Auster J.5B Autocar, Crashed and destroyed by fire 26 January 1952 near Dingo Creek, 3 miles North of Sandy Hollow, near Denman, NSW. All three persons on board were killed. As reported at the time in the contemporary local press (The Muswellbrook Chronicle (Muswellbrook, NSW) Tuesday 29 January 1952 Page 1):

Three Killed in Plane Crash Near Denman
Three occupants were killed when a light Auster aeroplane crashed in a paddock near Denman on Saturday.
They were Mr. Stanislaus James Heaney (56), of Wrightson-Avenue, Bar Beach; Mrs Minnie Heaney (52), his
wife, same address who were the passengers and Leslie Clarence Fleming (45), of Roslyn-street, New
Lambton, who was the pilot. Police believe the pilot was making a forced landing. The plane crashed into a tree stump.

Mr. Heaney, well-known in sports circles, was making a trip to inspect his station property at Coolah. The aircraft took off from Newcastle early on Saturday afternoon. When the trio failed to arrive at the property for tea, a search party was sent out.

The searchers reached the wreckage on Sunday in a paddock three miles from Sandy Hollow, near Denman. They found the pilot's body near that of Mrs. Heaney inside the plane. Mr. Heaney's body was about 120 yards away.

Police believe that Fleming's vision may have been obscured by bushfire smoke as he attempted an emergency landing, and he failed to see the stump".

Denman is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in Muswellbrook Shire. It is on the Golden Highway in the Upper Hunter Region, about 250 kilometres (160 miles) north of Sydney. The coordinates -32.389583, 150.446476 place the point approximately three miles north of Sandy Hollow, still within the Upper Hunter Valley near Denman.

1. The Muswellbrook Chronicle (Muswellbrook, NSW) Tuesday 29 January 1952 Page 1: Three Killed in Plane Crash Near Denman: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107817276
2. The Canberra Times Monday 28 January 1952 page.2: THREE DEAD IN PLANE CRASH: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2847352
3. The Scone Advocate (Scone NSW) Wednesday 30 January 1952 Page 3: THREE DEAD IN PLANE SMASH: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160623426
4. Sunraysia Daily (Mildura, Vic.) Monday 28 January 1952 Page 1: Three dead when plane crashes: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/282341953
5. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/23740:vh-kbf-1
6. https://edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austcl/VH-KBF.html
7. https://www.ahsa.org.au/wp/archives/this-day-in-history/26-01-1952
8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/203093150/leslie-clarence-fleming
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179820197/stanislaus_anthony-heaney
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179820194/minnie_gertrude-heaney

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
19-Jun-2009 13:02	harro	Updated
28-Nov-2012 06:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
31-Mar-2021 16:05	TB	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, ]
27-May-2025 06:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]