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Helicopter pilot disconnected flight-time meters before Outback Wrangler star’s death, court hears Helicopter pilot in crash that killed Outback Wrangler star was a ‘party animal’, court told
(about 7 hours later)
Jock Purcell tells court there were ‘more than 10 times’ he didn’t fill out a maintenance release form after flying one of Matt Wright’s helicopters. Wright has pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice Jock Purcell tells court Sebastian Robinson was ‘hopeless with paperwork’ and says Matt Wright – who has pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice – was ‘lenient’ with record keeping
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A helicopter pilot disconnected flight-time meters and did not properly fill out paperwork for reality TV star Matt Wright in the lead-up to a fatal crash on a crocodile egg-collecting mission, a court has been told. 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.
Jock Purcell gave evidence in the supreme court in Darwin on Monday in the jury trial of the Outback Wrangler star, who has pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice. Pilot Sebastian Robinson was left a paraplegic after the February 2022 crash during a crocodile-egg collecting mission in remote swampland in the Northern Territory.
The show’s co-star, Chris “Willow” Wilson, was suspended by a sling from a chopper when he fell to his death in remote swampland in the Northern Territory in February 2022. 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.
The helicopter then crashed, leaving pilot Sebastian Robinson a paraplegic. 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 that flight-time meters were regularly disconnected to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and paperwork was falsified. Sign up: AU Breaking News email
Under questioning by crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci on Monday, Purcell admitted there were “more than 10 times” he didn’t fill out a maintenance release form after flying one of Wright’s helicopters. 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.
He also admitted disconnecting Hobbs meters, devices that recorded flight hours, and said he had seen Wright do the same thing. The jury on Monday heard from helicopter pilot Jock Purcell who was on the croc-egg collecting mission on the day of the crash.
The disconnections occurred when a helicopter was nearly due for required services, Purcell said. He admitted disconnecting Hobbs flight-time recorders and falsifying flight records when directed by Wright and gave evidence Robinson had showed him how to disconnect the meters.
He agreed he took directions from Wright on disconnecting meters and not recording hours. Senior defence counsel David Edwardson KC put it to Purcell his friend Robinson was “hopeless with his paperwork” when it came to keeping up to date with his flight record keeping.
Robinson also disconnected meters and had shown him how to do it, Purcell said. Purcell agreed and admitted that after the crash, when Robinson was in hospital, he had updated flight records for the injured pilot’s own helicopter when asked to do so.
He flew to the accident scene on the day of the crash and he said the aircraft’s console had been unscrewed, but he couldn’t recall who by. “He just reached out and I did it for him,” Purcell said.
Edwardson put it to 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 other’s backs,” he said.
Purcell agreed, but concurred Wright was known to have zero tolerance for drugs.
Edwardson put it to Purcell he knew Robinson was a “party animal” who used cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.
“I think we all enjoyed a beer and having a good time,” Purcell said, agreeing he had seen Robinson use cocaine.
Under questioning by crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci, Purcell admitted not filling out maintenance release forms after flying Wright’s helicopters.
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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, 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 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.Under questioning from 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?” Gullaci asked.“You wanted to see whether it was connected or not for when investigators turned up to look at the crashed helicopter?” Gullaci asked.
“I don’t believe so,” Purcell replied.“I don’t believe so,” Purcell replied.
The jury was played a covertly recorded conversation between Wright and Purcell from August 2022 in which the reality TV star said: “The Hobbs has been touched, they’ve moved it forward or some fucking thing.”
“I don’t know what Sebby [Robinson] said to them … because a lot of this stuff they could have got out of the [maintenance release],” Wright went on to say.
When asked by Gullaci if “they” referred to crash investigators, Purcell said he couldn’t be sure as the call was a long time ago.
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 Wilson’s death.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 Wilson’s death.
The trial before acting Justice Allan Blow is expected to take up to five weeks.The trial before acting Justice Allan Blow is expected to take up to five weeks.