Outback Wrangler Matt Wright had ‘nothing to do’ with fatal crash, federal court told

A Federal Court has heard Netflix star Matt Wright may seek to have a civil suit dismissed based on the notion he had nothing to do with the crash that killed his mate Chris Wilson.

The late Chris Wilson with his wife Danielle and children.

A Federal Court has heard Netflix star Matt Wright may seek to have a civil suit dismissed, based on the notion he had “nothing to do” with the crash that killed his mate Chris Wilson in February 2022.

Mr Wilson died and pilot Sebastian Robinson was seriously injured in the crash at King River in the Northern Territory during a crocodile egg collecting mission.

Mr Wright and Mr Wilson appeared together in Outback Wrangler and the Netflix series Wild Croc Territory and were considered close friends.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation found fuel exhaustion was the most likely cause, and was also critical of the safety management undertaken by Helibrook, Mr Wright’s aviation company and overseen by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Mr Wilson’s widow Danielle Wilson is trying to have Mr Wright and wife Kaia personally added to the lawsuit she has brought against Helibrook and CASA for their role in her husband’s death.

Outback Wrangler Matt Wright and his wife Kaia. Picture: Instagram

In a court hearing on Tuesday, barrister Matthew Kalyk for Ms Wilson, noted the Wrights had neither consented nor opposed to being joined to the case, and suggested orders be made doing so.

However barrister Darryn Kelly for Helibrook and the Wrights, argued he needed further information from his clients, noting their opposition would amount to “a summary dismissal type ground”.

“I wouldn’t like to be seen to acquiesce to a position and then seek to change it, so unless there’s a problem I would ask for the entirety of the application to be stood over,” said Mr Kelly.

“To be clear about that, there appears at the moment to be one fundamental cause of this accident and I don’t want to oversimplify it, which on the face of it has nothing to do with Mr Wright and to be quite blunt … I’m the one who raised with my instructing solicitors a question about the strength of the argument.”

He indicated that “locking his clients” into a position would only add to the difficulty of a summary dismissal type application.

“Obviously I would give (Ms Wilson’s lawyers) as early an indication as possible if there was to be a positive opposition to that,” Mr Kelly added.

“It’s a matter that’s raised, I had a conference this morning with my instructing solicitors, and I did raise something that I think we should explore a bit further.”

Chris Wilson was collecting crocodile eggs when he was killed in a helicopter crash in February 2022.

Justice Elizabeth Raper agreed the matter should be set down for a half-day hearing on March 22, to determine whether Mr and Mrs Wright should be personally joined to the case, and their assets frozen while it was determined.

The court heard Ms Wilson’s affidavit was “the best part of 500 pages”, and it would take time to deal with that.

The civil suit was not the only legal action embroiling Mr Wright, with Northern Territory WorkSafe bringing two charges of reckless conduct against the reality TV star and his company.

Both charges relate to allegations Mr Wright interfered with the helicopter’s internal meters and falsified flight records over a period of time.

NT WorkSafe noted that if found guilty of all charges, Helibrook faced a maximum penalty of $6m, and Mr Wright faced a maximum $1.2m fine, or five years jail or both.

The matter was listed for mention in Darwin Local Court on February 27.

Originally published as Outback Wrangler Matt Wright had ‘nothing to do’ with fatal crash, federal court told