Stockleigh, Australia: Two people were killed after a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza crashed into open ground at Stockleigh, south of Brisbane, Queensland, shortly after taking off from Archerfield Airport on September 7, 2026. The aircraft, registered VH-MPT, was carrying only two people 56-year-old Ian Campbell and his 23-year-old daughter Hannah Campbell when it came down at about 11:05 a.m. local time and was destroyed by a post-impact fire.
The aircraft departed Archerfield Airport shortly before 11 a.m. on what the Australian Transport Safety Bureau described as a private flight. ATSB records put the occurrence time at 11:05 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. Available reporting indicates the aircraft was airborne for only about seven minutes before crashing in a rural area of Stockleigh, near Musch Road, in the Logan region. The destination of the flight has not been publicly confirmed.
The aircraft was a six-seat Beechcraft A36 Bonanza, a single-engine piston aircraft manufactured by Beech Aircraft Corporation. ATSB records identify the aircraft as VH-MPT, serial number E-1456, operated under Part 91 general operating and flight rules. The aircraft was registered to Telford Aviation Pty Ltd.
Flight-tracking information reported that the Bonanza took off at approximately 10:57 a.m. and briefly climbed to around 1,000 feet before beginning a descent toward the Stockleigh area. It then crashed into a rural property roughly seven minutes after departure. However, the ATSB has not established why the aircraft descended or what caused the loss of the flight.
Witnesses have provided investigators with potentially significant information about the aircraft’s final moments. A nearby resident told 7NEWS that the aircraft was flying unusually low and sounded abnormal. He said he ran outside after hearing it and watched what he described as the aircraft’s final turn before hearing a “big boom”, followed by a large plume of smoke and flames. The witness then called emergency services.
Other witnesses also reported hearing what appeared to be an abnormal engine sound. The ATSB said several people who had contacted investigators described the engine as sounding like it was “running rough or spluttering”. The bureau stressed that this information is important to the investigation, but it has not identified an engine problem as the confirmed cause of the crash.
The aircraft came down in open ground on a rural property and the impact triggered a large grass fire. Debris was scattered across the property, while flames spread across an area reported by authorities to be approximately 300 metres by 400 metres. The fire burned close to a farmhouse but was brought under control before any homes were damaged. No injuries among people on the ground have been reported.
Queensland emergency services responded after multiple Triple Zero calls reporting the crash and fire. Eight Queensland Fire Department crews were deployed to fight the blaze. Police and other emergency personnel also attended the scene, where the wreckage and fire initially made access difficult. The two occupants were located in the aircraft and were pronounced dead at the scene.
Queensland Police Chief Superintendent Mel Adams described the crash site as “very confronting” for emergency responders. At the time of the initial police briefing, investigators had not determined what happened during the aircraft’s flight. Adams said, “As to what happened whilst that aircraft was in the air, we have no information at this time.” Police initially withheld the identities of the victims while next-of-kin notifications were being completed.
The victims were later identified as Ian Campbell, 56, and his daughter Hannah Campbell, 23. Both were from Ascot in Brisbane. Ian Campbell was a fourth-generation Queensland dairy farmer and the founder of Barambah Organics, which he established with his wife, Jane. The family also founded Mañana Pastoral in the Goondiwindi region, producing extra virgin olive oil and grass-fed lamb and beef.
Campbell was also known in Queensland’s agricultural community as a rural scientist and animal nutritionist. Reports said he had worked as a consultant in Australia, the United Kingdom and South America and remained involved in agriculture after the family’s dairy business expanded. The Campbell family had been associated with farming in the South Burnett region for more than a century.
National Farmers’ Federation president Hamish McIntyre described the deaths as an “absolutely heartbreaking tragedy” and said Ian Campbell had been a highly respected figure in Australian agriculture. He also remembered Hannah as a young woman with her life ahead of her.
Barambah Organics chief executive Chris Elliott said the company’s approximately 100 employees had gathered to share their grief following Campbell’s death. Elliott said Campbell’s influence remained part of the company and that “His legacy through our brand will carry on.”
The ATSB began its investigation with three transport safety investigators from its Brisbane office. The investigators specialise in aircraft operations, maintenance and engineering. They examined the crash site and wreckage, including the aircraft’s flight-control system, engine and propeller, while also recovering avionics and other recording equipment such as GPS units for examination at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra.
Investigators are also collecting flight-tracking information, maintenance records, pilot records and weather information, while interviewing witnesses and other people connected with the flight. The ATSB has specifically appealed for anyone with dashcam, CCTV, mobile-phone or other video footage showing the aircraft before the crash to come forward. The investigation remains active and is currently in the evidence-collection phase.
