On 3 October 1934, a Qantas plane bound for Winton from Longreach, the Atlanta (in some sources, Atalanta), a de Havilland DH.50, caught fire in the air near its destination and the pilot tried, unsuccessfully, to make an emergency landing not far west of town before the fire on board set the fuel tank off. Complicating matters just then was a dust storm, which made for very poor visibility, and which later also delayed the sighting of the wreck by searchers. The aircraft came down in a ball of fire, killing the pilot and his two business passengers, one of whom, a sandalwood buyer named William McKnoe, was from Winton.
