Chopper death crash pilot details lies to investigators
Lloyd Jones |
A pilot who survived a deadly helicopter crash has detailed lies he told investigators after deleting phone messages, saying he was in a “very bad way” at the time with life-changing injuries.
Sebastian Robinson is a paraplegic after the crash in February 2022 that killed Outback Wrangler co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Mr Robinson is giving evidence in the Supreme Court in Darwin at the trial of reality TV star Matt Wright, who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Prosecutors allege the helicopter operator was worried crash investigators would discover flight-time meters were disconnected regularly to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and paperwork was falsified.
Mr Wilson fell to the ground from a sling beneath the chopper while collecting crocodile eggs in remote swampland.
The aircraft then crashed, seriously injuring Mr Robinson who on Wednesday gave evidence by video link from his wheelchair.
The jury heard 10 days after the crash Wright visited Mr Robinson while he was heavily sedated in hospital and asked him to manipulate flying hour records.
Under questioning from senior defence counsel for Wright, David Edwardson KC, Mr Robinson admitted he had lied to Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators around the same time.
Among the lies were that before the crash the helicopter was functioning well and he was busy with the role of maintenance controller at Wright’s Helibrook company when in fact he held the position in name only.
Mr Robinson admitted saying there had only been a spark plug issue with the helicopter when “there were many more problems with the aircraft”.
He said his condition hindered his proper judgment at the time.
“I was in a very bad way.”
The 32-year-old told the jury on Tuesday he had fractures of his vertebrae, resulting in a complete severance of his spinal cord, rendering him a paraplegic.
Both his lungs were punctured, his left elbow and ankles were fractured and he suffered a traumatic brain injury that still causes him cognition problems and mood swings.
Mr Edwardson has previously alleged in the lead-up to the crash Mr Robinson was a cocaine-using “party animal” who was “hopeless” at flight record keeping.
The court on Wednesday heard Mr Robinson had done contract work with Indigenous groups in Arnhem Land, including Aboriginal rangers.
Under questioning by Mr Edwardson, Mr Robinson agreed it was “unforgivable” to supply alcohol or illegal drugs to Indigenous communities where liquor was banned.
“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,” he said.
The court heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in Royal Brisbane Hospital when he was heavily sedated with “tubes coming out of me everywhere”.
Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC asked Mr Robinson what Wright had requested of him at his hospital bedside and he replied “to manipulate hours on my aircraft”.
“He asked if I would consider putting any of his hours, from his helicopter, onto my helicopter.”
The court was told Mr Robinson was being asked to put egg-collecting hours flown on Wright’s crashed helicopter onto his helicopter, which was not fitted with equipment for egg collecting.
Mr Robinson said he told Wright on a return visit the next day that “I didn’t feel comfortable doing it”.
The court was told Mr Robinson was asked to fly egg-collecting missions in Arnhem Land, where COVID restrictions were in place, because Wright was an anti-vaxxer and could not enter the Indigenous territory.
Jurors heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in hospital despite requirements to show a COVID vaccination certificate and having to complete a test for the virus.
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 trial continues.
AAP
