Outback Wrangler star ‘tampered with helicopter dash’
Lloyd Jones |
Reality TV star Matt Wright tampered with the dashboard of a helicopter after a fatal crash and falsely reported its fuel tank level, a jury has heard.
The Outback Wrangler star’s trial began on Wednesday, more than three years after Wright’s mate and co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson died in the outback chopper crash that left pilot Sebastian Robinson a paraplegic.
Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice following the February 2022 incident in the Northern Territory.
The trial got underway in the Supreme Court in Darwin with crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC outlining his case to the jury.
None of the charges related to the cause of the crash and it was not alleged Wright was responsible for it, the death of Mr Wilson or Mr Robinson’s injuries, Mr Gullaci said.
The Crown case was Wright did not properly record helicopter flying hours and was concerned that crash investigations would uncover that, leading to charges against him and his companies.
The jurors were told part of the evidence would be covertly recorded conversations of Wright and others at his home and on his phone, using listening devices.
Mr Wilson died doing something “incredibly brave”, dangling from a helicopter to collect crocodile eggs along the King River in Arnhem Land, Mr Gullaci said.
He and Mr Robinson were working for Wright to lawfully collect the eggs for sale to crocodile farms.
On the day of the crash, Wright was aware there would be investigations by aviation safety authorities and NT Police, leading to possible charges, Mr Gullaci said.
Wright was the chief pilot, CEO and head of flight operations at his company Helibrook, Mr Gullaci said.
As holder of an air operating certificate he was required to abide by all Australian civil aviation regulations to ensure safe operations.
The Robinson R44 helicopter had a maximum flying-hour threshold of 2200 hours, at which time an operator had to decide to retire the aircraft or give it an overhaul costing more than $400,000.
The case was about Wright engaging in practices to not properly record flying hours, including evidence that Hobbs flight-time recording meters were deliberately disconnected, Mr Gullaci said.
“If you don’t properly record service hours, you put off the maintenance and service requirements. It’s a way of extending the life of the aircraft.”
That meant the 2200-hour limit could be passed by hundreds of hours and that affected airworthiness, Mr Gullaci said.
The prosecution case was Wright was aware his pilots routinely disconnected Hobbs meters and did not accurately record their flying hours in log books – to make sure the meters and log books matched.
The jury was told they would hear covertly recorded conversations between Wright and his wife Kaia in which he said: “I don’t write shit down … I will be guilty of not keeping my paperwork up to speed.”
They would also hear from pilots that Wright regularly asked them not to record flying hours in their log books.
Investigations concluded the crashed helicopter was likely over its 2200 hours and its Hobbs meter was not working, Mr Gullaci said.
“The rules are it shouldn’t have been flying.”
Wright immediately choppered to the crash site on the day and “played around with the dash”, the Crown alleging he was trying to see if the Hobbs meter was disconnected,” Mr Gullaci said.
“From the outset he attempts to cover up previous rule-breaking.”
Wright said in a statutory declaration to police he had seen about half a tank of fuel in the crashed chopper.
But covert recording of Mr Wright showed he did not believe that, saying on the phone, “I didn’t see any f***ing fuel in the tank – zero”, Mr Gullaci told the jury.
Wright made the statutory declaration with intent to obstruct investigations and avoid suggestions the aircraft operated without adequate fuel or there was a fuel line problem, the prosecutor said.
AAP
