Crash pilot a ‘cocaine-using party animal’, court told
Lloyd Jones |
A pilot whose helicopter crashed, killing Outback Wrangler co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson, was a “party animal” and cocaine user who was “hopeless” at keeping flight records, a court has been told.
Pilot Sebastian Robinson was left a paraplegic following the February 2022 crash during a crocodile-egg collecting mission in remote swampland in the Northern Territory.
Mr Wilson, a friend of reality TV star and helicopter operator Matt Wright, was slung on a line below the chopper when he plunged to his death.
Wright has pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court in Darwin to three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Prosecutors allege Wright was worried crash investigators would uncover flight-time meters were regularly disconnected to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and paperwork was falsified.
The jury on Monday heard from helicopter pilot Jock Purcell who was on the croc-egg collecting mission on the day of the crash.
He admitted disconnecting Hobbs flight-time recorders and falsifying flight records when directed by Wright and gave evidence Mr Robinson had showed him how to disconnect the meters.
Senior Defence Counsel David Edwardson KC put it to Mr Purcell his friend Mr Robinson was “hopeless with his paperwork” when it came to keeping up to date with his flight record keeping.
Mr Purcell agreed and admitted that after the crash, when Mr Robinson was in hospital, he had updated flight records for the injured pilot’s own helicopter when asked to do so.
“He just reached out and I did it for him,” Mr Purcell said.
Mr Edwardson put it to Mr Purcell that those on the croc-egg mission were part of a close-knit community.
“In many respects you were as thick as thieves … performing an incredibly dangerous exercise, so you had to have each others backs,” he said.
Mr Purcell agreed, but concurred Wright was known to have zero tolerance for drugs.
Mr Edwardson put it to Mr Purcell he knew Mr Robinson was a “party animal” who used cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.
“I think we all enjoyed a beer and having a good time,” Mr Purcell said, agreeing he had seen Mr Robinson use cocaine.
Under questioning by crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci, Mr Purcell admitted not filling out maintenance release forms after flying Wright’s helicopters.
He had seen Wright disconnect meters and agreed the helicopter operator was “lenient” when it came to record keeping, he said.
The disconnections occurred when required services were near-due for a helicopter, Mr Purcell said.
He flew to the scene on the day of the crash and told the court the aircraft’s console had been unscrewed but he couldn’t recall who by.
Under questioning from Mr Gullaci, the pilot said he looked behind the console to see if anything stood out to explain the crash and he saw the Hobbs meter was connected.
“You wanted to see whether it was connected or not for when investigators turned up to look at the crashed helicopter?” Mr Gullaci asked.
“I don’t believe so,” Mr Purcell replied.
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 or Mr Wilson’s death.
The trial before acting Justice Allan Blow is expected to take up to five weeks.
AAP
