Crocodile egg collector ‘100 per cent sure’ about fatal Outback Wrangler chopper crash

A Darwin man who was on a crocodile egg collecting job with Netflix star Chris Wilson the day he died says he doesn’t know what caused Willow’s fatal chopper crash, but is ‘100 per cent sure’ he knows what didn’t.

Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson collecting crocodile eggs.

A Darwin man who was on a crocodile egg-collecting job with Netflix star Chris Wilson the day he died says he doesn’t know what caused Willow’s fatal chopper crash, but is “100 per cent sure” he knows what didn’t.

Tim Luck, who was in one of three helicopters on the mission that morning, said there was “no possible way” fuel exhaustion had caused the crash because he filled up the destroyed chopper’s tank himself shortly before they set off to find crocodile nests.

“I wasn’t in that machine but I finished filling it up,” he said.

“I remember it to a T. There’s no question about it. That straight away proves that it didn’t crash because there was no fuel in the tank.”

Wilson – who is in Netflix series Wild Croc Territory – was killed when the helicopter he was slinging from crashed at West Arnhem Land on February 28 last year.

The destroyed Robinson R44 Raven II, registered VH-IDW, was owned and operated by Matt Wright’s company, Helibrook.

The scene of the helicopter crash with (inset) Chris 'Willow' Wilson.

At the time of the crash, it was being flown by pilot Sebastian Robinson, who had about 2500 hours of flying experience. The 29-year-old suffered severe spinal injuries in the incident. Luck said he was angry and frustrated by a false narrative suggesting Robinson failed to adequately fuel the chopper before the mission.

“Sebby is a really good pilot and he’s also an engineer,” he said.

“You can’t tell me that two qualified pilots (Robinson and Wilson) would fly around such a remote area, so many hours away from their next refuel, and just ignore the fact there was no fuel in it.

“Even though there was no fuel when (investigators) got to it, the ATSB tested the gauges and fuel light and told me they were working.”

The 30-year-old said he also got the impression, early on, that an ATSB investigator was ready to adopt the fuel starvation theory before NT Police became heavily involved in the case.

Pilot Sebastian Robinson.

Others have told The Australian of similar experiences. “It is completely unprofessional and incompetent to suggest and investigate that narrative,” Luck said. “It is also utterly disrespectful to Seb, Willow and their families, given the evidence.”

Luck, who is not a pilot but works around helicopters, said his recollection of refuelling VH-IDW’s tank at a fuel-drum site near Mount Borradaile about half an hour before the crash was clear.

Luck flew from Noonamah to the drum site with another pilot. When they landed, Wilson was already topping up VH-IDW’s tank.

“I jumped out of our machine, went straight over there and took over pumping and I filled VH-IDW to the top,” he said. “I’m 100 per cent sure that machine was filled to the top.”

After refuelling, the three crews flew about 20 minutes to the King River staging area.

At about 9am, Luck, with pilot Michael Burbidge and another crew, took off to collect eggs to the northeast. At about 10.30am, Burbidge returned to find the wreckage of VH-IDW, Wilson’s body and the critically injured pilot.

Luck, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, said: “At the time, I wasn’t worried about what had caused the crash or what anyone else was doing. I was literally only worried about Seb and Willow at the time.”

The ATSB’s final report into the cause of the crash is due for release by September.