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News.com.au
4 days ago
- News.com.au
Major claims as Netflix's Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright goes on trial over deadly chopper crash
A reality television star and pilot allegedly fudged helicopter flight logs before his mate died in a fatal crash and suggested 'torching' important documents in the aftermath. Those were just some of the explosive claims made in the Northern Territory Supreme Court during the first week of the trial against Outback Wrangler Matt Wright. Mr Wright, 45, is accused of engaging in a 'pattern' of failing to accurately record flight times in the Robinson-R-44 that crashed three years ago, killing his friend and co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson. The 34-year-old father was dangling from a sling attached to the chopper during a dangerous crocodile egg collecting mission on February 28, 2022. The helicopter crashed into a paperbark swamp along the King River in Arnhem Land, killing Mr Wilson and critically injuring 28-year-old pilot Seb Robinson. Mr Robinson is now a paraplegic and in a wheelchair. Mr Wright has pleaded not guilty to three allegations of attempting to pervert the course of justice following the crash. In his opening address this week, prosecutor Jason Gullaci told the court the six-man operation was 'risky and dangerous work'. Wild Harvest NT owner Mick Burns — commonly known as the 'crocodile king' — had a permit for egg collection and subcontracted Mr Wright's company Helibook. Mr Gullaci alleged Mr Wright had a 'pattern' of manipulating flight records. He said the Netflix and Apple TV star would have known about the maintenance requirements, including 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 $460,000. Mr Gullaci alleged that in a bugged conversation with his wife Kaia in September 2022, Mr Wright suggested he knew he had overflown the maintenance hours 'by a couple hundred (hours), maybe 10 per cent'. 'I will be guilty of not keeping my f****** paperwork up to speed,' Mr Wright allegedly said. Mr Wright allegedly repeatedly disconnected the chopper's Hobbs Meter, which Mr Gullaci compared to the odometer of a car. While it was not alleged Mr Wright was responsible for the deadly crash, Mr Gullaci said his fear that he would be blamed did motivate his actions. 'Mr Wright was concerned after the crash that this failure would be revealed,' Mr Gullaci said. 'And if it was uncovered that there had been systemic under-reporting of the recorded hours, that it could be used as a way to blame him for the accident.' Mr Burns testified the collectors, who dangled from helicopters, were paid $1000 per day and the pilots were paid by their respective companies. He told the jury he paid for their 'green' fuel as 'we thought it was safer as it allows the engine to run cooler'. The petrol and a refuelling stop at Mt Borradaile will be a source of contention throughout the trial. Mr Burns began to tear up as he recalled arriving at the horrific crash site. Off-duty police officer Neil Mellon was with Mr Burns at the site and also became emotional as he told the jury how he put his friend in a body bag. 'I've done it so many times, I didn't think these guys needed to do that,' he said. Mr Mellon said he disconnected Mr Wilson's harness, removed a handgun from his hip, and removed his mobile phone — handing it to Michael Burbidge, who was flying another helicopter and had been the first to arrive at the scene. He told the court Mr Burbidge told him Mr Wilson's wife Dani 'doesn't need to see what's on that' and later admitted the phone was 'in the ocean'. Mr Mellon agreed Mr Wright and Mr Burbidge were 'in and around' the crashed chopper's cockpit, but Mr Burns said he did not recall. In a bugged conversation months later, the court heard Mr Wright had allegedly said: 'He had run out of fuel. I'll just say he was a s*** pilot.' The prosecutor alleged Mr Wright repeatedly tried to manipulate the helicopter's documents, including pressuring Mr Robinson to forge records and suggested to others the original maintenance release should be 'destroyed'. Mr Gullaci alleged the celebrity was recorded saying: 'Just torch it, I don't know where it is.' 'Now they are starting to put the pressure on everyone, you know, they will start squealing,' he allegedly said in September. On Friday, the court was played a covertly recorded phone call between Mr Wright and Mr Burbidge from August 9, 2022. Mr Burbidge allegedly said to Mr Wright: 'Who's got the logbooks for IDW? There's been s**t written in it.' Mr Burbidge then told Mr Wright an anonymous 'source' told him engineers had been writing notes in the logbook, saying the helicopter had been flown when the hours meter was disconnected. 'They've said the clock's been off … so you need to find out who's f****** said it so you know who to trust and not to trust,' he said. Defence senior counsel David Edwardson said the charges against his client relied on statements made by Mr Robinson and his family whose 'credibility and reliability' was in question, as well as inaudible and unclear recordings. The jury heard the lengthy trial would likely focus on the trace levels of cocaine in Mr Robinson's blood. Mr Gullaci said expert evidence would be presented that indicated recreational use in the days before the crash. The trial before Justice Alan Blow will resume next week.
News.com.au
6 days ago
- News.com.au
Outback Wrangler Matt Wright allegedly bugged telling wife Kaia Wright his mates started ‘squealing' during chopper crash investigation
An Aussie reality television star was allegedly heard on covert recordings complaining his mates would 'start squealing' and suggested to 'torch' critical documents after the death of his co-star. Outback Wrangler Matt Wright has pleaded not guilty to three allegations of attempting to pervert the course of justice following the fatal helicopter crash death of his mate, Chris 'Willow' Wilson. The 34-year-old father was last seen alive dangling in the air from a sling attached to a Robinson R-44 helicopter during a crocodile egg collecting mission on February 28, 2022. During this dangerous mission, the helicopter crashed into a paperbark swamp along the King River in Arnhem Land, killing Mr Wilson and critically injuring his 28-year-old pilot Seb Robinson. The 45-year-old Netflix and Apple TV star was accused of trying to cover up the crashed chopper's flight logs and a 'pattern' of failing to properly record flight times. The jury has repeatedly heard the cause of the crash was not the subject of the trial, rather Mr Wright's alleged actions in its wake. On Thursday the jury was brought back to the scene of the traumatic chopper crash, with Wild Harvest NT director and The Crocodile King of the NT Mick Burns the first to give evidence. Mr Burns, who held the permit for the crocodile egg collection, said that day's mission was subcontracted to Mr Wright's Helibrook, Michael Burbidge's Remote Helicopters Australia and North Australia Helicopters with pilot Ty 'Mudcrab' Richardson. The jury heard Mr Robinson and Mr Wilson were flying for Helibrook, while the other helicopters were manned by Jock Purcell and Tim Luck. Mr Burns said the 'collectors' — who dangled through the sky to drop into deadly crocodile nests — were paid $1000 a day, while the pilots were paid by their respective chopper companies. He said he paid for all fuel, repeating they only used high-lead content 'Green' fuel as 'we thought it was safer as if allows the engine to run cooler'. The jury has heard the petrol, and a refuelling stop at Mt Borradaile, would be a source of contention through the trial, with Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC stating a witness maintained it was 'filled to the brim'. At some point after leaving an agreed staging area near the King River crocodile nests, the Robinson R-44 with Mr Robinson and Mr Wilson crashed to the ground. Mr Burns told the jury that after hearing the news, he, Mr Wright, and senior off-duty NT Police officer Neil Mellon immediately flew to the crash site. Using the same model of Robinson R-44 used in the crash, Mr Burns said they flew non-stop for up to 90 minutes to the crash site, with no refuelling breaks — arriving just as Careflight crews left with the injured Mr Robinson. Mr Burns started to tear up as he remembered arriving at the horrific scene, where his mate's body lay in the swamp. Mr Mellon was also emotional as he told the jury how he put his friend in a body bag, the experienced cop saying 'I've done it so many times, I didn't think these guys needed to do that'. Mr Mellon said he disconnected Mr Wilson's harness, removed a handgun from his hip, and removed his mobile phone — handing it to Mr Burbidge. He said Mr Burbidge told him Mr Wilson's wife Dani 'doesn't need to see what's on that' and later admitted the phone was 'gone' and was 'in the ocean'. Mr Gullaci also alleged Mr Wright, Mr Burbidge, and Mr Purcell approached the crashed helicopter and removed some items and 'play(ed) around with the dash'. Mr Mellon agreed Mr Wright and Mr Burbidge were 'in and around' the crashed chopper's cockpit, but Mr Burns did not remember seeing this. 'I can't remember seeing anyone inside the helicopter. It was pretty low to the ground,' Mr Burns said. He said Mr Burbidge reported the chopper still had fuel inside. Mr Gullaci said initially Mr Wright told investigators he saw there was half a tank of fuel still in the crash chopper, however later said 'I didn't see f--king any fuel in the tank, zero'. In a bugged conversation months later, Mr Wright allegedly said: 'I just looked in it then. F--k that, nah, it just had no fuel'. 'He had run out of fuel. I'll just say he was a sh-t pilot,' he allegedly said. Mr Gullaci said at the time of the crash the Robinson R-44 had recorded 2070 hours on the Hobbs metre — just 130 hours shy of a costly maintenance overhaul requirement. However, Mr Wright was allegedly recorded telling his wife, Kaia Wright, he knew the helicopter had overrun its maintenance threshold. Mr Gullaci alleged Mr Wright repeatedly tried to manipulate the Robinson R-44's documents, including pressuring Mr Robinson — the now paraplegic pilot — to forge the records and suggested to others the original maintenance release should be 'destroyed'. Mr Gullaci alleged Mr Wright was recorded saying: 'Just torch it, I don't know where it is'. 'Now everyone is f--king, now they are starting to put the pressure on everyone, you know, they will start squealing,' he allegedly said in September. Defence senior counsel David Edwardson said while Mr Wright did have a practice of disconnecting the Hobbs metre and under-reporting flight hours, this was 'commonplace' among Territory pilots and not a 'motive' for the serious allegations against him. Mr Edwardson said the charges against his client relied on statements made by Mr Robinson and his family whose 'credibility and reliability' was in question, and inaudible and unclear recordings. The jury heard the lengthy trial would likely focus on the trace levels of cocaine found in Mr Robinson's blood after the crash. Mr Gullaci said expert evidence would be presented saying this indicated recreational use in the days before the crash — rather than while he was piloting the chopper. The trial continues on Friday.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- The Guardian
First witness appears in trial after Outback Wrangler star's death in helicopter crash
A seasoned crocodile egg collector has been brought to tears in court after being asked how he learned of Outback Wrangler co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson's fatal helicopter crash. Michael 'Mick' Burns of Wild Harvest NT was the first witness in the Supreme Court trial of the reality TV show's other star, Matt Wright, who has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice after the February 2022 crash. The crown case is that Wright did not properly record helicopter flying hours and was concerned crash investigators would uncover the issue, triggering possible charges against him and his company. Wright has pleaded not guilty to three charges. Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC told the jury the charges did not relate to the cause of the accident and it was not alleged Wright was responsible for the crash or the death. Wilson was in a sling under the helicopter on a crocodile-egg collecting mission when it plunged to the ground, killing him and critically injuring pilot Sebastian Robinson, who is now a paraplegic. The crash happened on a paperbark swamp along the King River in Arnhem Land, a remote part of the Northern Territory. Burns on Thursday told the jury one of his employees rang him on the morning of the crash. Asked if he had been close to Wilson, Burns was unable to reply and used a tissue to wipe away tears. The jury heard Burns had started egg collecting in the early 2000s to sell to crocodile farms. He said the job held a 'fair degree of risk' with collectors having to fend off female crocodiles with a long stick and keep their egg crates between themselves and the reptiles. Burns, now retired from egg collecting missions, flew to the crash site with Wright hours after the crash. He said he stayed by Wilson's side at the scene before flying with his body on a CareFlight chopper back to Darwin. That evening he handed over Wilson's phone to his parents. Gullaci said Wright ignored requests from aviation safety agencies to hand over a maintenance release form for the crashed helicopter and gave orders 'to just torch it'. It was also the crown case that Wright visited Robinson in Royal Brisbane Hospital days after the crash and was 'putting the hard word on him' to falsify helicopter flying hours. Wright allegedly wanted Robinson to falsify documents to show that his own helicopter had flown egg-collecting hours, not the crashed chopper, Gullaci said. Robinson had refused to do so, the prosecutor said. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority in 2022 requested Wright surrender documents, notably the original maintenance release for the crashed aircraft, but they were never provided. Covertly recorded conversations between Wright and associates show he wanted the document destroyed so aviation authorities could not get their hands on it, Gullaci said. Jurors would hear Wright ask an associate to find the document and 'just torch it', he said. But defence senior counsel David Edwardson KC said his client 'emphatically denied' trying to get Robinson to falsify flight records and telling an associate to find and destroy the maintenance release. The credibility of Robinson and family members who would give evidence was seriously in question, he said. The maintenance release had been shown to an aviation safety authority member at Wright's home and a scanned copy was later sent to authorities by Wright's wife Kaia, Edwardson said. It was not in dispute that it was regular practice among the NT helicopter community to manipulate flight-hour data and disconnect meters so aircraft could fly longer than they should, the defence barrister added. The Darwin trial before acting Justice Allan Blow is expected to take up to five weeks.
The Age
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
King River taps high-grade gold while eyeing NT copper-gold riches
King River Resources has uncovered more high-grade gold in the latest round of drilling at its Kurundi project in the Northern Territory, while also firming up two iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) targets it plans to test this month at its nearby Kuiper prospect. The company today reported results from 13 reverse circulation holes at Kurundi, with one of the standout hits coming from a newly discovered structure 300 metres northeast of the Kurundi Main prospect. One hole pulled up 4m at 1.43 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, including 2m going 2.79g/t from a shallow 9m depth. King River says the mineralisation remains open both at depth and along strike and appears spatially associated with historic alluvial gold workings in the area. The newly discovered zone adds to a string of earlier high-grade hits at Kurundi Main, including 7m at 6.35g/t gold from 25m, with 1m at a blazing 35.26g/t gold, 6m at 4.77g/t from 29m with 3m at 9.28g/t, and 3m going 8.3g/t from 35m that included 1m at 15.5g/t. Five new holes were drilled under the central Kurundi Main structure, intersecting veining and structure consistent with previous results, though grades were variable. Notably, another hole returned improved values of 7m at 0.49g/t gold, including 2m at 1.12g/t, pointing to the potential for a down-plunge northerly extension that remains open at depth. Another four holes were completed to probe the southern extent of the main mineralised zone, though structural complexity, including an offsetting fault, may be obscuring the true extent of the mineralisation in that area. The company also has its eye on the Kuiper target, where soil sampling has produced encouraging pathfinder signatures over a pair of coincident gravity and magnetic anomalies. The targets lie within Warramunga Formation-equivalent rocks under about 10m of Cambrian cover, similar to the host rocks of nearby IOCG deposits such as Emmerson Resources' Hermitage and Edna Beryl projects. At Kuiper West, soil geochemistry showed anomalism in key IOCG trace elements such as gold, copper, silver, bismuth and arsenic. The bismuth anomaly aligns with the heart of the gravity anomaly, an encouraging indicator given bismuth's association with Tennant Creek-style IOCG systems. The company believes the data supports a compelling interpretation of ironstone-hosted mineralisation beneath the geophysical targets and says drilling at Kuiper is scheduled to kick off this month.
Sydney Morning Herald
14-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
King River taps high-grade gold while eyeing NT copper-gold riches
King River Resources has uncovered more high-grade gold in the latest round of drilling at its Kurundi project in the Northern Territory, while also firming up two iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) targets it plans to test this month at its nearby Kuiper prospect. The company today reported results from 13 reverse circulation holes at Kurundi, with one of the standout hits coming from a newly discovered structure 300 metres northeast of the Kurundi Main prospect. One hole pulled up 4m at 1.43 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, including 2m going 2.79g/t from a shallow 9m depth. King River says the mineralisation remains open both at depth and along strike and appears spatially associated with historic alluvial gold workings in the area. The newly discovered zone adds to a string of earlier high-grade hits at Kurundi Main, including 7m at 6.35g/t gold from 25m, with 1m at a blazing 35.26g/t gold, 6m at 4.77g/t from 29m with 3m at 9.28g/t, and 3m going 8.3g/t from 35m that included 1m at 15.5g/t. Five new holes were drilled under the central Kurundi Main structure, intersecting veining and structure consistent with previous results, though grades were variable. Notably, another hole returned improved values of 7m at 0.49g/t gold, including 2m at 1.12g/t, pointing to the potential for a down-plunge northerly extension that remains open at depth. Another four holes were completed to probe the southern extent of the main mineralised zone, though structural complexity, including an offsetting fault, may be obscuring the true extent of the mineralisation in that area. The company also has its eye on the Kuiper target, where soil sampling has produced encouraging pathfinder signatures over a pair of coincident gravity and magnetic anomalies. The targets lie within Warramunga Formation-equivalent rocks under about 10m of Cambrian cover, similar to the host rocks of nearby IOCG deposits such as Emmerson Resources' Hermitage and Edna Beryl projects. At Kuiper West, soil geochemistry showed anomalism in key IOCG trace elements such as gold, copper, silver, bismuth and arsenic. The bismuth anomaly aligns with the heart of the gravity anomaly, an encouraging indicator given bismuth's association with Tennant Creek-style IOCG systems. The company believes the data supports a compelling interpretation of ironstone-hosted mineralisation beneath the geophysical targets and says drilling at Kuiper is scheduled to kick off this month.
