Matt Wright blew up at pilots who went to the pub
Lloyd Jones |
Reality TV star Matt Wright was “hostile and abusive” to his helicopter pilots when they stopped crocodile-egg collecting because of a bad storm and went to the pub, a jury has heard.
Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice after a February 28 chopper crash that killed Outback Wrangler co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson.
Pilot Sebastian Robinson was left a paraplegic after the crash and has been giving evidence in the Supreme Court in Darwin by video link from his wheelchair.
Prosecutors allege Wright was worried crash investigators would discover flight-time meters were disconnected regularly to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and paperwork was falsified.
Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC on Friday asked Mr Robinson about a storm on January 26, 2022 that prompted him and fellow pilot Michael Burbidge to call off crocodile-egg collecting at the Daly River mouth.
“It was huge … across the whole horizon, going fast,” the 32-year-old said.
To sling egg collectors below a helicopter onto croc nests in such a storm was “very dangerous” for pilots and egg collectors, he said.
The crews flew their choppers out and went to the Noonamah Tavern for a beer but when Wright heard his reaction was “very hostile and abusive”, Mr Robinson said.
He said Wright phoned him saying; “What the f*** are youse doing back? Egg collecting is not meant to be easy, you wait the weather out … and get on with the job.”
“I told him to get f***ed, get vaccinated and fly his own helicopter,” Mr Robinson told the court, referring to Wright being an anti-vaxxer who was unable to fly into Arnhem Land because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Wright’s tirade contributed to Mr Robinson’s desire to leave Wright’s Helibrook company and run his own helicopter operation, he said.
In phone messages the next day Wright apologised to his pilots and egg collectors for “blowing up” at them but he had been under pressure with other missions, the court heard.
Mr Robinson previously admitted cocaine use and supply but has told the court he never flew helicopters while high.
In a pre-crash text message exchange played to the court on Thursday, Mr Robinson said he was “crook as a dog”, with a friend texting back, “snorting too much coke out of Matty’s arse”, in a reference to Wright.
In a line of questioning stemming from that on Friday, Mr Gullaci asked Mr Robinson: “Have you ever sniffed cocaine off Mr Wright’s arse crack?”
“Absolutely not,” Mr Robinson replied.
“Have you ever given anyone a blow job to get cocaine,” Mr Gullaci then asked, again getting a negative response.
“That’s woken the jury up,” Acting Justice Allan Blow said, as Wright chuckled in the dock.
Senior defence counsel David Edwardson KC on Friday accused Mr Robinson of concocting a story Wright had asked him to manipulate helicopter flying hours.
Mr Robinson has said Wright asked him at his hospital bedside in Brisbane 11 days after the crash to transfer flying hours from the crashed chopper IDW onto Mr Robinson’s ZXZ machine, which he declined to do.
Mr Edwardson put it to Mr Robinson the conversation about manipulating flying hours never happened.
But Mr Robinson said he remembered Wright saying something along the lines, “we might have to put some hours across onto ZXZ”.
Mr Robinson has also told the court he remembered at the hospital his phone was in Wright’s hand and he was deleting items from it, which he believed to be helicopter flight times.
But Mr Edwardson put it to Mr Robinson that was an “absolute falsehood” because Wright never touched his phone and did not delete any messages.
Mr Robinson said he disagreed.
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
