Chris Wilson’s widow in bid to freeze Netflix co-star Matt Wright’s assets in fatal chopper crash court stoush

Danielle Wilson’s lawyer said he was concerned ‘that if Helibrook is not insured, that ultimately, when it comes to enforcement, if we succeed, we may not be able to enforce against Helibrook’.

Danielle Wilson is suing the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Matt Wright’s company Helibrook in the Federal Court over her husband’s death.

Lawyers for Chris “Willow” Wilson’s widow have filed an application to join his Netflix co-star Matt Wright to her lawsuit against his company and freeze his assets.

Danielle Wilson is suing the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Helibrook Pty Ltd in the Federal Court following her husband’s death in a chopper crash in 2022.

On Thursday, her lawyer David Lloyd SC said Ms Wilson was seeking to include Mr Wright due to questions over whether Helibrook’s insurance would cover the two limbs of her claim.

“There’s a concern that if Helibrook is not insured, that ultimately, when it comes to enforcement, if we succeed, we may not be able to enforce against Helibrook,” he said.

Mr Lloyd said he understood Mr Wright’s position to be “that there’s no need for a freezing order because he’s covered under the policy”, which if true would mean “we may not need to pursue it”.

But counsel for Helibrook, Tom Brennan SC, said there did appear to be some aspects of the claim which “would be a basis for the insurer to decline indemnity under the policy”.

“If Mr Wright is to be joined we apprehend he may make a claim for indemnity that may raise further and separate issues for the insurer from those which arise with Helibrook — not least that Helibrook is a named insured and Mr Wright is not,” he said.

Mr Wright’s solicitor Amanda Bond confirmed her client had made a claim and was awaiting a response, but Mr Lloyd acknowledged she was not in a position to respond to his application, which was only filed on Wednesday.

Danielle Wilson is seeking to freeze Matt Wright’s assets as part of her Federal Court case. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“We had hoped that we might be able to get to a position that there might be an undertaking given by Mr Wright and his wife about not transferring or disposing of assets from now forward, which if given, would remove any urgency from the interlocutory application,” he said.

“The only thing that we may need to seek in the absence of an undertaking by Mr Wright and Mrs Wright is an interim order holding the position.

“That is, preventing the disposal of assets between now and the date that freezing order application, if it’s pursued, can be heard.

“(But) hopefully that might go away if an undertaking to the court was provided.”

Mr Brennan said Helibrook’s insurer could also potentially bring a cross claim for the case to be dismissed on the basis that Mr Wilson had piloted the chopper himself on the day in question.

“The contract is a contract for the carriage for the whole of the morning, so that does squarely raise that question because Mr Wilson was a pilot for part of that flight,” he said.

The case returns to court on Tuesday.

Originally published as Chris Wilson’s widow in bid to freeze Netflix co-star Matt Wright’s assets in fatal chopper crash court stoush