Crash survivor Seb Robinson claims final image of Chris ‘Willow' Wilson reveals helicopter's fuel levels
On Tuesday the sole survivor of the crash and former pilot Sebastian Robinson gave evidence in the chopper crash conspiracy trial of reality television star, Matt Wright.
The Apple TV and Netflix celebrity has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
It has been alleged Mr Wright attempted to cover up a pattern of dodgy flight records for the helicopter that crashed on February 28, 2022 during a crocodile egg collecting mission.
As the sole survivor of the crash, Mr Robinson said his last memory from that day was 'having a laugh' with his mate in the chopper.
The jury were shown a photo of Mr Wilson piloting the Robinson R-44 on that fateful trip — the image appearing to capture the fuel gauge between three-quarters and completely full mark.
Mr Robinson said at that level, the helicopter should have been able to travel from Noonamah to King River and back.
Yet the Robinson R-44 never returned, instead it plummeted into a croc-filled swamp in remote Arnhem Land, NT on February 28, 2022.
Mr Wilson was killed instantly, while the 28-year-old Mr Robinson was left in a critical condition.
The case does not allege Mr Wright was responsible for the crash.
On Tuesday, Mr Robinson became emotional as he shared his next memory: waking up in a Brisbane hospital bed and being told his friend was dead and he would likely never walk again.
The jury heard the young pilot's spinal cord was completely severed, 12 ribs broken and puncturing his lungs, while his neck, elbow and both ankles were fractured.
The former pilot, now paraplegic admin worker, said he struggled with his long and short term memory due to a traumatic brain injury.
The pilot said in the wake of the catastrophic crash, the fear that he would be blamed and lose his licence 'went through my mind'.
Mr Robinson admitted he initially lied to investigators, claiming the Hobbs metre was connected.
'It was pure panic. I was scared … of the potential repercussions,' he said.
Over the past five days of evidence, the jury has repeatedly heard Mr Robinson had trace levels of cocaine in his system after the crash.
His fellow pilot Jock Purcell agreed that Mr Robinson was a 'party animal', adding that everyone on that mission 'all enjoyed a beer and having a good time'.
In court on Tuesday, Mr Robinson said he used cocaine 'a couple times a year' — up to 10 times over 12 months — but he denied he was a 'raging cocaine junkie'.
Mr Robinson maintained he had never flown a helicopter while intoxicated, either by drugs or alcohol.
Mr Wright's senior counsel David Edwardson previously said the reality television star had a 'zero tolerance' approach to drugs.
Mr Edwardson has alleged that Mr Robinson was worried that the discrepancies in his own flight paperwork would be revealed, with Mr Purcell collecting his logbook from his friend's home two days after the crash.
Mr Robinson made full admissions to the jury of his own dodgy record keeping practices, which he said were common across the Territory helicopter industry.
After almost a decade in the industry, Mr Robinson alleged he had worked for two other businesses who similarly failed to properly record flight hours.
Mr Robinson agreed he continued to 'break the rules' while working at Mr Wright's company, Helibrook.
He said the reality television star knew it was 'very common' practice to disconnect the Hobbs Meter and to not record flight times, and Mr Wright directly benefited by skirting costly maintenance requirements.
'(Mr Wright) would say 'pop the clock for this trip,' Mr Robinson alleged.
The licenced aviation engineer said at the time of the crash he was only nominally Mr Wright's head of Helicopter Aircraft Airworthiness Maintenance Control, while the reality television star was the chief pilot.
'Matt controlled all aspects of his aircraft regarding maintenance scheduling,' Mr Robinson said.
Mr Robinson said all of the Territory celebrity's employees 'absolutely' followed his directions, stating 'we were young men, we looked up to him'.
'Everyone looked at Matt as an idol. He'd say 'jump' and they'd say 'how high?',' he said.
'He had an aura about him.
'Everyone wanted to be around him, work for him, everyone bent over backwards to try and be a part of what he was doing.'
Mr Robinson is expected to continue giving evidence on Wednesday.
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