The Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright will face trial next year accused of perverting the course of justice after a helicopter crash that killed his co-star Chris Wilson. The 34-year-old died in February last year while attached to a helicopter owned by Wright in a remote area of the Northern Territory.
Wright, along with pilot Michael Burbidge and former senior police officer Neil Mellon, went to the crash scene. All three were later charged with perverting the course of justice and destroying evidence. Wright appeared in Darwin local court on Thursday, where prosecutors said they were ready to proceed with one of the seven charges.
He will face the Northern Territory supreme court on 18 January on one count of perverting the course of justice. The other six charges, including tampering with evidence and threatening pilot Sebastian Robinson who was critically injured, have been deferred. Burbidge pleaded guilty to destroying evidence, with the other three charges withdrawn. Mellon is due in court later on Thursday.
The news comes less than 48 hours after Wilson’s widow filed a civil suit against Wright’s helicopter company and the aviation regulator. An Air Transport Safety Bureau investigation found that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority granted Helibrook an exemption to collect crocodile eggs using banned slings, and by 2017 most safety limits were removed, allowing Wilson to be attached up to 30 metres. The ATSB also alleged Wright’s company had a long history of noncompliance and engine defects.
