[4] In October 1954, he crashed his plane on a flight from Bankstown Airport in heavy rain near Oberon, but escaped uninjured.
[3][5] Purchasing a new aircraft, a Cessna 180, he continued flying charters and applying fertiliser and pesticides.
He was reported for night flying by the local police, then illegal, but was able to convince the authorities to lift the ban, pointing out that flying conditions were calmer at night and crop spraying was essential to local cotton farmers.
By 1994, when he floated his company on the stock market, Hazelton Airlines carried 330,000 passengers a year.
[2][6] In 2001, the Hazelton family sold their stake in the airline to Ansett Australia, after a take-over battle between the former and Qantas.