Hinkler married in 1932. On 7 January 1933, Hinkler left London Air Park, Hanworth, England, in the Puss Moth in an attempt to break the flying record to Australia held by C. W. A. Scott of 8 days 20 hours. Nothing more was heard of him until his body was discovered in the Tuscan Mountains in Italy. His aeroplane had crashed into the mountains the same day he departed from London. He was buried — with full military honours on the orders of Italy's ruling dictator Benito Mussolini — in the Cimitero degli Allori in Florence. A monument in his memory was erected at Prato Alle Vacche in the Pratomagno mountain by the Aretino Aero Club. He was survived by both his legal wife Katherine and his de facto wife Nance.