Matt Wright expected to be charged over chopper crash that killed Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Outback Wrangler Matt Wright, who is expected to face charges over a fatal chopper crash.
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A warrant has been issued for the arrest of reality television star Matt Wright.
The warrant relates to a helicopter crash in February that killed Chris “Willow” Wilson, Mr Wright’s co-star in the television series Outback Wrangler and Wild Croc Territory.
Sky News has revealed police are expected to charge Mr Wright, 43, with several offences including perverting the course of justice, destruction of evidence, fabricating evidence, interfering with witnesses and two counts of unlawful entry.
Mr Wright – who has been living in Queensland – has been told to attend a police station in Darwin by Wednesday when he is expected to be charged.
Mr Wright has strenuously denied allegations of wrongdoing.
Mr Wilson, 34, was on a job collecting crocodile eggs in a remote area of West Arnhem Land when the helicopter he was travelling in crashed on February 28.
Chopper pilot Sebastian Robinson suffered serious spinal injuries in the crash.
Mr Wright was one of four people who subsequently flew to the scene in another helicopter.
Two of those people – helicopter pilot Michael Burbidge and police officer Neil Mellon – have been charged with various offences, including destroying evidence.
Mellon, a 30-year veteran of the NT police force, is facing more than 30 charges including perverting the course of justice, disclosing confidential information, unlawfully accessing data and obtaining benefit by deception.
Last month a court heard one of the NT’s most prominent businessmen – crocodile farmer Mick Burns – was also at the crash site and was “inextricably linked” to the events.
There are no suggestions, and the court did not hear any evidence or allegations of, any wrongdoing against Mr Burns.
The warrant for Mr Wright’s arrest follows a police investigation that has been running for more than six months.
It is understood the investigation has been looking into Mr Wright’s actions before and after the chopper crash that killed Mr Wilson.
Police will allege Mr Wright tampered with evidence at the crash site.
They will also allege he twice visited Mr Robinson in a Brisbane hospital where he was receiving treatment after the crash and tried to get him to falsify records relating to the helicopter involved in the crash – a Robinson R44 Raven II bearing the call sign VH-IDW – and to delete evidence from his mobile phone.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority requires this type of helicopter to undergo 50-hour and 100-hour services to remain airworthy.
When they reach 2200 hours of total time in service they are required to be overhauled at a cost of about $400,000.
Police will allege Mr Wright regularly disconnected the hours meter in VH-IDW and other helicopters used by his company, and instructed other staff to do the same.
The helicopter involved in the crash had been used by Mr Wright’s company, Helibrook, for scenic and adventure tours in the Top End between 2020 and 2022, as well as crocodile egg harvesting.
Last month, police called for any tourists who had travelled in the helicopter to come forward with pictures and videos of the machine.
It’s understood police used those images to provide evidence the helicopter had been in use on days when information provided to CASA showed it had not been flying.
Mr Wright rose to fame more than a decade ago when the reality TV series Outback Wrangler was first screened by the National Geographic Channel.
The series has been viewed in more than 90 countries.
This year Mr Wright starred in a new series – Wild Croc Territory – which was broadcast on Channel 9 and has since been screened on Netflix.
The Northern Territory Government contributed $250,000 towards the production of Wild Croc Territory that it said would attract more than 200 million viewers.
A second series has already been planned for next year.
Mr Wright is an ambassador for Tourism Australia and Tourism NT.
He has spoken about the chopper crash during interviews promoting Wild Croc Territory.
Last month he told a British newspaper Wilson’s death was “still pretty raw”.
“It’s still pretty fresh,” he told express.co.uk.
“Maybe in time, you know … I’ll explain.”
Just over a week ago Mr Wright and his wife Kaia welcomed a new baby into their family.
*Matt Cunningham is the Sky News Northern Australia Correspondent
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