Matt Wright's visit to hospitalised pilot, "anti-vaxxer" claims heard in TV star's criminal trial
Neither Mr Wright nor pilot Sebastian Robinson are accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the crash that killed their friend Chris "Willow" Wilson during a crocodile egg-collecting trip to Arnhem Land in 2022.
Instead, Mr Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice relating to an alleged cover-up of shoddy record-keeping in the wake of the accident.
Catch up on today's live coverage of Matt Wright's Supreme Court trial.
Mr Robinson returned to the Northern Territory Supreme Court for his second day of evidence on Wednesday, facing further questioning from Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC.
He told the court Mr Wright had been unable to go on any crocodile egg-collecting trips in the 2022 season as he was banned from travelling to Arnhem Land due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19.
"He was an anti-vaxxer," Mr Robinson said.
Earlier, Mr Robinson told the court Mr Wright visited him while he was recovering in hospital in the weeks after the crash, where he deleted notes and texts from his phone and asked him to "manipulate" flight hours.
Jurors have previously heard Mr Robinson suffered catastrophic injuries in the crash, including multiple fractured vertebrae which rendered him a paraplegic, as well as a traumatic brain injury.
"I was hallucinating, I was seeing things that weren't there, I was in very bad shape," Mr Robinson said of his time in hospital.
"I can't remember much other than seeing tubes and bits and pieces and still trying to work out what was going on.
"I remember laying in the bed looking down at an arrangement of documents all across in front of me."
Mr Robinson said Mr Wright asked him "if I would consider putting any of his hours from his helicopter onto my helicopter", even though Mr Robinson's aircraft was not set up for egg collecting.
"I was still in a pretty bad way, very confused and knew something wasn't right and I said, 'I'd think about it', from memory," he said.
"I remember something along the lines of him saying, 'Just have a think about it and I'll come back and see you tomorrow'."
Mr Robinson said Mr Wright also "asked to go through my phone".
When Mr Wright returned to the hospital two days later, Mr Robinson says he told him he "didn't feel comfortable doing it".
"I don't think he was upset, from the way I remember it he sort of said, 'That's OK'," he said.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister David Edwardson KC, Mr Robinson admitted to bringing small quantities of alcohol onto Aboriginal land in his helicopter.
"Do you deny that at any stage you were supplying alcohol to members of the remote Indigenous Australian groups that you would fly into?" Mr Edwardson asked.
"There might have been the occasion I'd have a very small amount of alcohol under the seat of the helicopter, but I wasn't supplying a commercial amount," Mr Robinson replied.
But he denied bringing in any cannabis or other drugs.
"It would be unforgivable, would it not, to supply those communities, that is, provide them, with either alcohol or marijuana?" Mr Edwardson asked.
"Correct," Mr Robinson replied.
Mr Robinson also admitted to lying to Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators in an interview shortly after the crash, saying "obviously I didn't tell the truth entirely but you know, I panicked".
Mr Edwardson read from a transcript of the interview with an investigator who told Mr Robinson the downed helicopter had "a completely clean maintenance release [form]", saying "there's like, nothing on it".
Mr Edwardson said Mr Robinson had responded that it "might have done a plug on me last season and this year it hasn't missed a beat".
But on Wednesday, he said there were actually "many more problems with the aircraft".
The trial continues in Darwin on Thursday.
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