Dix Hills parents mourn William Joseph Jennings, killed in Australian plane crash surveying bush fires
A Dix Hills couple is in mourning after learning their only child died in a plane crash while working for a bush fire aerial surveillance company Friday in the remote outback of northwest Queensland, Australia.
Australian government officials confirmed William Joseph Jennings was among three killed when their twin-engine Turbo Commander plane operated by a firefighting company called AGAIR crashed. It was en route from Toowoomba to Mount Isa at about 2 p.m. Friday Queensland time, about 15 hours ahead of Long Island.
His parents, Denise and Joe Jennings, said their son had taken an internship working on thermal imaging cameras in Hood River, Oregon, following college graduation, then was working on railroad surveillance in Arizona when he got the call to go to Australia. He’d only been there about 2½ weeks.
“The Australia opportunity came up and Will was just an adventurer and so he jumped at it,” Joe Jennings said Monday.
“He loved to travel, he loved the outdoors, he loved photography,” Denise Jennings said. “It happened so quickly, but he wanted to go.”
William Jennings, 22, known as Will, attended Half Hollow Hills West High School and graduated summa cum laude from Northeastern University in Boston in May. His parents said their son, who had a degree in mechanical engineering, had taken the temporary assignment in Australia because he had worked on thermal imaging equipment used by the company — and because he was an avid hiker and photographer who wanted to explore Australia.
Joe Jennings said his son texted him not long before the crash to tell him he was traveling to a new base in Mount Isa.
“He sent a text saying they were going up from Toowoomba, and when I picked up my phone in the morning I saw his phone hadn’t moved,” Joe Jennings said. “I sent a text, got no response, which never happens. Call it father’s intuition, but I knew something was very wrong.”
Jennings said he was pacing around the house when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find a Suffolk County Police Department 2nd Precinct sergeant and two officers. Denise Jennings was still upstairs in bed when she said she heard her husband scream.
“These officers said there’s been an aviation accident,” Joe Jennings said of the moment.
“I started screaming,” Denise Jennings said, “saying, ‘This can’t be real. It has to be a mistake.’ He was our pride and joy. He was always smiling, was just such a happy young man, so smart, but so kind and humble.”
“He was our life,” Joe Jennings said.
The Australian government said the cause of the crash in under investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the Australian equivalent of the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States, but said it may take weeks or months before any information is released.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed condolences to the families of the three killed in the crash, tweeting: “Terribly sad that three brave souls working to help their fellow Australians have lost their lives in Queensland. A tragic reminder of the dangers those on the front line of bush fires face. Heartfelt condolences to their loved ones and colleagues in this time of grief.”
According to official reports, the high-wing turboprop crashed near remote Cloncurry, a town of a little more than 3,000 residents about 1,000 miles northwest of Brisbane. Officials said the copper miners in the area saw the crash and reported it at about 2:30 p.m. Friday Queensland time. A helicopter search crew from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services discovered the wreckage about 2½ hours later.
There were no survivors.
Joe Jennings said Australian officials told him the plane plummeted from an altitude of 19,000 feet in about one minute.
On Monday, Will Jennings was recalled as a gifted photographer and saxophonist who once played with a school jazz band at Carnegie Hall — and who often FaceTimed them from mountaintops he’d hiked. His parents said school friends traveled from around the Northeast on Sunday to their home in Dix Hills to share memories and offer condolences.
“He was a AAA kid — athletics, academics and arts,” his father said, noting Will was a sprinter who ran track at Hills West, graduating with honors in 2019. “He was a natural musician,” Joe Jennings said. “Anything he picked up he could play.”
The couple said the last conversation they had with Will before he left for Australia was about his student loans that were coming due.
“We don’t have a lot of money, and everything he did he did on his own,” Joe Jennings said, “and he always wanted to help us any way he could.” Joe Jennings is disabled while Denise works for BOCES.
Friends of the family have raised funds to help with funeral arrangements, as well as transporting Will's remains back to Long Island.
“It’s all beyond comprehension,” Joe Jennings said of the loss. “We’re just devastated.”
“There’s a hole in our hearts that’s never going to heal,” Denise Jennings said. “But, we have no regrets. Every conversation we ever had ended with, ‘I love you.’ He was just such a loving son. We’re grateful for the 22 years we had him. They were the best years ever. And the outpouring from friends, neighbors, people who knew him … That’s a tribute to William and how many lives he touched in the short time he had.”
A Dix Hills couple is in mourning after learning their only child died in a plane crash while working for a bush fire aerial surveillance company Friday in the remote outback of northwest Queensland, Australia.
Australian government officials confirmed William Joseph Jennings was among three killed when their twin-engine Turbo Commander plane operated by a firefighting company called AGAIR crashed. It was en route from Toowoomba to Mount Isa at about 2 p.m. Friday Queensland time, about 15 hours ahead of Long Island.
Denise Jennings holds a graduation photo of her son, William Joseph Jennings, in Dix Hills on Monday. Credit: James Carbone
His parents, Denise and Joe Jennings, said their son had taken an internship working on thermal imaging cameras in Hood River, Oregon, following college graduation, then was working on railroad surveillance in Arizona when he got the call to go to Australia. He’d only been there about 2½ weeks.
“The Australia opportunity came up and Will was just an adventurer and so he jumped at it,” Joe Jennings said Monday.
“He loved to travel, he loved the outdoors, he loved photography,” Denise Jennings said. “It happened so quickly, but he wanted to go.”
William Jennings, 22, known as Will, attended Half Hollow Hills West High School and graduated summa cum laude from Northeastern University in Boston in May. His parents said their son, who had a degree in mechanical engineering, had taken the temporary assignment in Australia because he had worked on thermal imaging equipment used by the company — and because he was an avid hiker and photographer who wanted to explore Australia.
Joe Jennings said his son texted him not long before the crash to tell him he was traveling to a new base in Mount Isa.
“He sent a text saying they were going up from Toowoomba, and when I picked up my phone in the morning I saw his phone hadn’t moved,” Joe Jennings said. “I sent a text, got no response, which never happens. Call it father’s intuition, but I knew something was very wrong.”
Jennings said he was pacing around the house when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find a Suffolk County Police Department 2nd Precinct sergeant and two officers. Denise Jennings was still upstairs in bed when she said she heard her husband scream.
“These officers said there’s been an aviation accident,” Joe Jennings said of the moment.
“I started screaming,” Denise Jennings said, “saying, ‘This can’t be real. It has to be a mistake.’ He was our pride and joy. He was always smiling, was just such a happy young man, so smart, but so kind and humble.”
“He was our life,” Joe Jennings said.
The Australian government said the cause of the crash in under investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the Australian equivalent of the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States, but said it may take weeks or months before any information is released.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed condolences to the families of the three killed in the crash, tweeting: “Terribly sad that three brave souls working to help their fellow Australians have lost their lives in Queensland. A tragic reminder of the dangers those on the front line of bush fires face. Heartfelt condolences to their loved ones and colleagues in this time of grief.”
According to official reports, the high-wing turboprop crashed near remote Cloncurry, a town of a little more than 3,000 residents about 1,000 miles northwest of Brisbane. Officials said the copper miners in the area saw the crash and reported it at about 2:30 p.m. Friday Queensland time. A helicopter search crew from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services discovered the wreckage about 2½ hours later.
There were no survivors.
Joe Jennings said Australian officials told him the plane plummeted from an altitude of 19,000 feet in about one minute.
On Monday, Will Jennings was recalled as a gifted photographer and saxophonist who once played with a school jazz band at Carnegie Hall — and who often FaceTimed them from mountaintops he’d hiked. His parents said school friends traveled from around the Northeast on Sunday to their home in Dix Hills to share memories and offer condolences.
“He was a AAA kid — athletics, academics and arts,” his father said, noting Will was a sprinter who ran track at Hills West, graduating with honors in 2019. “He was a natural musician,” Joe Jennings said. “Anything he picked up he could play.”
The couple said the last conversation they had with Will before he left for Australia was about his student loans that were coming due.
“We don’t have a lot of money, and everything he did he did on his own,” Joe Jennings said, “and he always wanted to help us any way he could.” Joe Jennings is disabled while Denise works for BOCES.
Friends of the family have raised funds to help with funeral arrangements, as well as transporting Will's remains back to Long Island.
“It’s all beyond comprehension,” Joe Jennings said of the loss. “We’re just devastated.”
“There’s a hole in our hearts that’s never going to heal,” Denise Jennings said. “But, we have no regrets. Every conversation we ever had ended with, ‘I love you.’ He was just such a loving son. We’re grateful for the 22 years we had him. They were the best years ever. And the outpouring from friends, neighbors, people who knew him … That’s a tribute to William and how many lives he touched in the short time he had.”
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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SARRA SOUNDS OFF: Interview with Massapequa's Tom Sheedy On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra interviews Massapequa baseball coach Tom Sheedy and sends a tribute to Chaminade lacrosse coach Jack Moran.
