‘Distraught’: Wrangler trial secret recordings released
Laine Clark |
Days after a crocodile egg collecting trip ended in tragedy, reality TV star Matt Wright provided an emotional account of the remote helicopter crash site to police.
The man known as the Outback Wrangler stopped to regain his composure before revealing he had arrived at the scene as critically injured pilot Sebastian Robinson left in a CareFlight chopper.
Wright’s best mate and co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson had died in the February 2022 crash in Arnhem Land that left Mr Robinson a paraplegic.
“Everyone was pretty distraught and upset,” Wright said, three days after the tragedy.
Among 14 secret recordings released almost a year after his Supreme Court trial, Wright tells police it appeared Mr Robinson had “done everything he could” to let Mr Wilson down safely judging by what he saw at the site.
Mr Wilson had been slung on a line below the helicopter to drop onto crocodile nests and collect eggs when it crashed.
Asked how much fuel he thought was left in the chopper’s tank, Wright said: “Maybe half a tank.”
However a very different account was given in a phone conversation with mate William Cook recorded in December 2022.
“I don’t want to f***ing put Sebi in it, but I’m not gonna f***ing get put in the clink because of his downfall,” Wright said.
“My downfall was I was trying to protect Seb and said I looked in the tank and I thought it was half a tank.
“I didn’t see any f***ing fuel in the f***ing tank. There was zero.”
Wright was charged with three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice in the wake of the crash.
He was accused of lying to investigators about the amount of fuel in the chopper, of trying to get Mr Robinson to falsify flying hours and of asking a friend to “torch” the helicopter’s maintenance release.
Wright is heard discussing helicopter records in a number of recordings including an August 2022 exchange with fellow pilot Michael Burbidge about the ill-fated chopper’s flight-hour logbook.
Mr Burbidge tells Wright that he needs to look at the logbook because someone had written “clock found disconnected again”.
“So, you need to find out who’s f***ing said it so you know who to trust and who not to trust.”
Prosecutors had alleged Wright was worried investigators would learn his choppers’ flying-hour meters were regularly disconnected to extend hours beyond official thresholds and paperwork was falsified to match.
The prosecution did not allege Wright was responsible for the crash, Mr Wilson’s death or Mr Robinson’s injuries.
Wright was found guilty on two counts in August 2025 and served five months in prison.
A jury could not reach an agreement on the chopper maintenance release “torch” claim.
Wright told his Instagram followers not to believe “everything you’re reading and listening to in the media” in a video posted after the release of the recordings.
“There are some overzealous reporters out there having a little dig; let them go,” he said.
AAP