Outback Wrangler Matt Wright accused of falsifying helicopter records before fatal crash

NZ Herald

7 days ago

The jury heard Wild Harvest NT owner Mick Burns – commonly known as the 'crocodile king' of the NT – had the egg collection permit and lawfully subcontracted Wright's company Helibook to conduct the outback mission.
The 34-year-old Wilson was the passenger of a Robinson R44 when the chopper went down, killing him and critically injuring Robinson.
Gullaci alleged Wright plotted to 'cover up' certain things about the helicopter, specifically his 'pattern' of manipulating its flight records.
He said that as an experienced businessman and pilot, Wright would have been very aware of the maintenance and service requirements of his aircraft, which include a service every 50 to 100 hours of flight and a major overhaul at 2200 hours.
He said these 'potential end of life' overhauls could cost up to A$460,000 ($504,284).
Gullaci said the Robinson R-44 was bought in September 2020 and had 'officially' logged 1594 in flight hours – meaning there was only 600 from the overhaul threshold.
He alleged that in a recorded conversation with his wife Kaia in September 2022, Wright suggested he knew he had overflown the maintenance hours 'by a couple hundred [hours], maybe 10%'.
'I will be guilty of not keeping my f**king paperwork up to speed,' Wright allegedly said in a secretly bugged conversation.
To avoid the costly safety checks, Gullaci alleged Wright repeatedly and 'deliberately' disconnected the chopper's Hobbs Meter, which he compared to the odometer of a car.
'In fairness to Wright, he wasn't Robinson Crusoe,' Gullaci said.
'You will hear that in the Northern Territory aviation industry in the helicopter field, this is common practice.'
Gullaci repeatedly emphasised to the jury none of the charges alleged Wright was responsible for the deadly crash, however, he alleged it was the celebrity's fear he would be blamed that motivated his actions.
'Wright was concerned after the crash that this failure would be revealed,' Gullaci said.
'And if it is uncovered that there had been systemic underreporting of the recorded hours, that it could be used as a way to blame him for the accident.'
The prosecution revealed its evidence would include recordings from covert listening devices installed in the celebrity's home, and intercepted telephone calls.
Among the many witnesses expected to be called will be Burns and Robinson, who is now a paraplegic and in a wheelchair.
Despite the intense media coverage and 'keyboard warrior' commentary, Gullaci reminded the jury to restrict its attention only to the evidence to maintain Wright's right to a fair trial.
'For better or worse in this country we have 'Tall Poppy syndrome' … we cut down people just because they're very successful,' Gullaci said.
'That is not appropriate, and there is no place for it in this trial.
'It doesn't matter if it was Snowy off the bus that no one knows, it doesn't matter if it was Taylor Swift sitting in that dock – the same protections apply for every accused person.'
The trial continues.