Trial lays bare cowboy chopper ops in croc country

Perth Now

3 days ago

The much-anticipated trial of reality TV star Matt Wright has laid bare the cowboy world of Top End helicopter-flying in crocodile country.
The Outback Wrangler star has pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The charges follow a helicopter crash in February 2022 that killed Wright's friend and co-star Chris "Willow" Wilson on a crocodile-egg collecting mission in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Pilot Sebastian Robinson, who was left a paraplegic after the crash, has endured three days of tough questioning in the Supreme Court in Darwin by video link from his wheelchair.
Wright's lawyers have painted Mr Robinson as a cocaine-using "party animal" who constantly broke aviation rules, including disconnecting flying-hour meters.
But the jury has heard that Wright also disconnected meters and falsified maintenance releases and pilot logbooks to match, and told his pilots to do so.
Such practices were commonplace across the helicopter industry in the territory, jurors have been told.
Wright also allegedly allowed Mr Wilson, a trainee pilot, to take the controls of helicopters with pilots who were not trained instructors, in a breach of aviation regulations.
Prosecutors allege Wright was worried after the crash that investigators would learn his choppers' meters were regularly disconnected to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and that paperwork was falsified.
The charges against Wright do not relate to the cause of the accident and the prosecution does not allege he is responsible for either the crash, Mr Wilson's death or Mr Robinson's injuries.
The key accusations against Wright are that he asked an associate to "torch" the maintenance release for the crashed helicopter, he lied about the amount of fuel in the machine's tank and that he tried to get Mr Robinson to transfer flying hours from that machine onto his own.
The jury has heard of the dangers of egg collecting where a man on a sling line beneath a chopper is lowered onto croc nests in remote swamps, with perhaps a handgun to protect against female reptiles protecting their nests.
Senior defence counsel David Edwardson described those involved in helicopter croc-egg collecting in the Top End as being "thick as thieves", having each other's backs amid the dangerous work they did.
Family members of Mr Robinson are expected to give evidence next week on whether Wright tried to pressure him to manipulate flight records.
Mr Edwardson has told the jury there were serious questions of credibility surrounding testimony from the family.
Mr Robinson has admitted to cocaine use and supply but has told the court he never flew helicopters while high.
He has vigorously denied the helicopter crashed because it ran out of fuel.
The trial has been going for two weeks and could go for another three before Acting Justice Allan Blow.