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Man arrested when helicopter crash kills crewmember of Outback Wrangler TV show.

red750

By red750
in Aircraft Incidents and Accidents

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spenaroo Well-known member

spenaroo

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Kununurra said:

No mention of what the charge is, but will be interesting to se the outcome.

first paragraph

 

"charged with conspiracy and evidence offences over a Northern Territory helicopter crash which claimed the life of a cast member of National Geographic's Outback Wrangler show.

The man was detained on Wednesday for questioning then charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, destruction of evidence and providing a false statement in a statutory declaration."

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onetrack Well-known member

onetrack

Posted
Posted

In Hoch's case, evidence must be provided showing a proveable link between the charged individual, and the insertion of contaminants in rivals fuel tanks. This stunt is the oldest trick in the book, and almost impossible to prove unless the person has actually been caught in the act, or on camera, carrying it out. Contaminants can come from anywhere, and unless there's a precise ID of the contaminants origin and type of material, then the case is very weak.

 

Hoch does not appear to off the hook completely, he's just beaten the contamination charges. I understand he has numerous other charges pending which obviously do have proveable evidence to back them up.

 

With regard to the charges against Michael Burbidge, Director and Chief Pilot of Remote Helicopters Australia, the evidence is obviously a little more concrete, such as furnishing a false Statutory Declaration and destroying evidence - and thereby attempting to Pervert the Course of Justice. Make no mistake, these are very serious charges, no matter what the position or employment of the individual concerned - and if proven in court, will end up becoming a serious jail term for the defendant.

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spenaroo Well-known member

spenaroo

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Posted (edited)

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/arrest-warrant-issued-for-outback-wrangler-reality-tv-star-matt-wright-over-northern-territory-helicopter-crash-that-killed-costar/news-story/709a475c1eb3a5c29d0928b1a3c0adc0?utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=gnews&utm_campaign=CDAQy5_JlYCUl9UkGLyciP3V38HBlAEqEAgAKgcICjDNtZILMOT5pwM&utm_content=rundown&gaa_at=la&gaa_n=ATKjfPH0Yb3eQx4dRYiISeVRINFhVcXIcHgOPU3PHWtEc62DP7WBamgwJLICv0MQs_uSndNDS-WunQ%3D%3D&gaa_ts=63842e3d&gaa_sig=ypwS7DpPx0RH86A3VAXQL7ZKqqbjJ2E9_w5hkAr0g9I3fNm-Nygl_t4lQ2H7T8okBHkxIpiQnezncH4RVOtc8g%3D%3D

sounds like a whole lot are going down in this. with no shortage of evidence

Disconnecting hour meters and falsifying records when your flights involve people taking pictures and videos of everything is a dumb move.
as is trying to get the pilot involved in the crash, to falsify records from his hospital bed. I imagine he was all too happy to tell the investigators everything probably recorded the calls

Edited by spenaroo
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BrendAn Well-known member

BrendAn

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On 06/04/2023 at 1:12 PM, red750 said:

'Cocaine traces found' in Outback Wrangler crash pilot

 

Read story here.

Means nothing really. Could be from medication or painkillers of some sort. When they say traces I always wonder because I don't drink. Smoke or have ever touched drugs yet I had a positive drug test for opiates.  Eventually it was tracked down to orange poppy seed muffins I had the day before.

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Student Pilot Well-known member

Student Pilot

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On 28/11/2022 at 1:57 PM, spenaroo said:

sounds like a whole lot are going down in this. with no shortage of evidence

Disconnecting hour meters and falsifying records when your flights involve people taking pictures and videos of everything is a dumb move.
as is trying to get the pilot involved in the crash, to falsify records from his hospital bed. I imagine he was all too happy to tell the investigators everything probably recorded the calls

There's a lot more that hasn't been released or reported on, they are in a lot more trouble than just fiddling the books.

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onetrack Well-known member

onetrack

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The cause of this R44 helicopter crash that killed egg collector Chris Wilson has been determined by the ATSB investigation to be fuel exhaustion.

This, despite the pilot giving evidence that he had refuelled shortly before the crash.

Matt Wright, in his regular style has hit back at the revelations in the ATSB report, trying to minimise his responsibilities.

 

Unfortunately, the ATSB report is not the end of the issue, there are a multitude of charges yet to be faced by numerous defendants in the case, so I will not comment further until those cases are heard and finalised.

 

It is interesting that the ATSB was given numerous conflicting crash evidence reports, and no doubt the courts will eventually determine who was telling the truth, and who wasn't.

 

The ATSB reports that the cocaine traces in the pilots system may have increased the likelihood of fatigue, depression and inattention, but ultimately determined that the cocaine effects did not contribute to the crash.

In the same vein, the investigation found that there were overruns in maintenance, overhaul and inspection periods - but that these only increased the crash risk, they did not directly contribute to the crash.

 

CASA also came in for a serve, for authorising the slinging of a person below the R44 for egg collecting, but did so without initiating "an effective process" for doing so, to ensure that aviation safety levels were not affected.

 

The ATSB found that when the R44 engine started to fail, the pilot released the sling holding the egg collector at a height that was unsurvivable.

 

https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/news-items/2023/atsb-releases-king-river-crocodile-egg-collection-helicopter-accident-investigation-report#:~:text=The ATSB investigation determined that,egg collector beneath the helicopter.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-22/atsb-final-report-fatal-helicopter-crash-nt-chris-wilson-death/103131088

 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/matt-wright-responds-to-safety-report-into-helicopter-crash-that-killed-costar-chris-willow-wilson/news-story/578478d8671707ab2fb91e952586c8fb

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onetrack Well-known member

onetrack

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I would imagine there may be a very small number of operators who are prepared to take a gamble with their lives and other people lives with hour meter disconnection, but the ultimate penalties are more than just financial.

 

There was one previous operator of a Robinson in the North of W.A. who did carry out regular hour meter disconnection - but he paid the ultimate price, he was killed when the rotor on his Robinson disintegrated.

The rotor had a manufacturers lifespan of 1200 hrs, when it was required to be replaced.

The owner ignored this requirement, disconnected the hour meter and continued flying. The rotor failed at approximately 2000hrs.

 

The ATSB investigated at length and went through the owners fuel useage records, which showed a major discrepancy against the Robinsons hours showing on the meter. The ATSB calculated from the fuel records, the Robinson had done at least 2000hrs, not the substantially lower figure shown by the hour meter. It was fortunate the owner was the only one on the Robinson when it went down.

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Student Pilot Well-known member

Student Pilot

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23 hours ago, BrendAn said:

From what I have heard disconnecting hour meters is not unheard of  because the choppers run up hrs so quick and services are So expensive. 

Not only choppers, standard practice in some areas of GA. Cooking the books in all sorts of ways has been condoned/overlooked by all sorts of government agencies. 

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Litespeed Well-known member

Litespeed

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It's only fair she sues them.

 

How else will she get any recompense and postive justice. Workers comp won't help much 😔.

 

A dodgy employer, who ran a highly dangerous workplace, purposely chose to ignore and defeat all safety rules and laws. He even falsified records as part of a criminal conspiracy to pervert justice.

 

A workplace so neglectful  of safety culture that a pilot was taking cocaine and didn't fuel the aircraft. Nor was that picked up as a essential check item.

 

 A pilot that responded to engine out by dropping the slung victim to his  guaranteed death as a first response, beggars belief. 

 

All from a cowboy group staring on TV shows. Certainly not cash poor or invisible to the regulator.

 

The bloke in charge should loose everything plus his liberty for a long time.

 

The pilot must also take his punishment.

 

Casa should also pay for allowing the unsafe sling operations to be approved the way they did.

 

Edited by Litespeed
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onetrack Well-known member

onetrack

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Litespeed, none of what you're stating has been proven to be true in a court of law, and I would remind you that there are criminal cases and case results hanging on evidence yet to be examined in those courts, under oath. 

 

As regards the widow of Chris Wilson, I guess she has been encouraged by the successful out-of-court settlement between CASA and the widow of David Black, who died when his Dromader lost a wing when firefighting.

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Litespeed Well-known member

Litespeed

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Onetrack,

 

Yes, it is yet to go to court but on the evidence reported and the ATSB report, the charges already laid and court reporting, I feel warranted in my opinion.

 

No statement I have made is untrue, given publicly available admissible evidence, all of which will be used in court for criminal and civil matters.

 

I am happy to defend my statements and opinions, even in court.

 

The David Beck case  success has little relevance bar some precedence. This is a unique case. The involvement of the employers actions are fundamental. Its a mutch bigger can of worms.

 

 

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onetrack Well-known member

onetrack

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The "evidence" you refer to is a report by investigators, which contains opinions that were derived from interviews with people who weren't under oath. As the ATSB reports says, much of the information provided was conflicting, and some was understood to be mistruths and diversionary - so the investigators had to draw their own conclusions.

The truth is only revealed under oath in courts with intensive questioning and consideration of the "facts", by a learned judge.

Making firm statements of fact on an internet forum, where those facts have not been confirmed by a court of law - and where the case is yet to be heard - can land you in hot water.

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