Croc Wrangler: Pilot Jock Purcell admits hour meter on Matt Wright’s chopper was often unplugged before crash

A pilot who was on the crocodile egg collecting mission the day Netflix star Chris Wilson was killed admits he frequently disconnected the hour meter in Matt Wright’s choppers prior to the fatal crash that killed his mate.

Jock Purcell also admitted, while giving evidence in the reality TV star’s criminal trial on Monday, to having falsified flight records for Mr Wright.

Mr Purcell’s testimony comes more than three years after 34-year-old Wilson was killed in a helicopter accident at West Arnhem Land on February 28, 2022.

Mr Wright’s aviation business Helibrook owned the destroyed Robinson R44, registered VH-IDW, which crashed soon after taking off from King River with Wilson slinging beneath it. Pilot Sebastian Robinson survived but is now paraplegic.

Mr Wright is facing trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin on three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to the investigation into the fatal crash. The 45-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Mr Purcell was working as an egg collector, in another of the three crews, on that fateful mission.

The young father-of-two had worked for Mr Wright for about five years prior to the fatal crash as a pilot, egg collector, airboat driver and tour guide at the celebrity croc-wrangler’s Top End tourism ventures.

He also starred alongside Mr Wright and Wilson in Netflix series Wild Croc Territory.

On Monday he gave evidence via video-link from Rockhampton where he now works in a coal mine.

Under questioning by crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC, Mr Purcell initially said he did not approach or look inside the crashed chopper at any point, or see anyone else approach the crashed chopper, after arriving at the scene.

However, Mr Purcell later admitted checking whether the destroyed helicopter’s hour meter, also known as a Hobbs meter, was connected.

“I know someone lifted the dash of the crashed helicopter but I don’t recall who it was or seeing who it was,” he said.

“I was outside the front bubble.

“I looked under the dash to see if I could see anything obvious to why the helicopter had crashed.

“I can’t remember exactly what I said but I know the Hobbs meter was connected.

“Just looking throughout the whole console, under the dash, just to see if I could see anything.”

Mr Gullaci suggested Mr Purcell “knew that there was a practice among Matt Wright’s helicopters of the Hobbs meter being disconnected”.

“And you wanted to see whether it was connected or not for when investigators turned up to look at the crashed helicopter?” he asked.

Mr Purcell said he didn’t “believe so,”

“I looked under the dash to see if I could see anything that could be relevant to why the helicopter had crashed and the Hobbs meter was under the dash and I observed that it was connected,” he said.

The crown prosecutor rejected this.

“Tell me one thing that you were looking for in that area, that, with your experience as a pilot, might have been able to tell you how the helicopter had crashed?” Mr Gullaci asked.

“I’m not an investigator so I don’t know,” Mr Purcell replied.

Further in his evidence, Mr Purcell admitted there had been “more than 10 times” he had failed to record flight hours in the aircraft’s maintenance release after flying one of Mr Wright’s helicopters.

When asked if it happened more than 30 times, he replied: “Yes, I don’t know”.

Mr Purcell said he “probably at some point” discussed the decision not to record flight hours in the aircraft’s MR with Mr Wright before later saying Mr Wright had “at some point” directed him not to record hours in an aircraft’s MR.

He said he would also fly Mr Wright’s helicopters with the hour meter disconnected “because (the chopper) was getting close to service”.

“That the 50 hours or 100 hours service was coming up,” he said.

“Because we couldn’t get the helicopter back in time.”

Mr Purcell said that he had disconnected and reconnected the Hobbs meter in Mr Wright’s helicopters himself and had seen Mr Wright and Mr Robinson disconnect the Hobbs meter, but refused to say how often he had witnessed this.

After the fatal crash, while Mr Robinson was in a Brisbane hospital, Mr Purcell admitted he had gone to Mr Robinson’s home and taken the critically injured pilot’s flight logbook.

Mr Purcell said he did not recall who had asked him to do that or why.

“I took it home and then like Seb’s brothers come and got it from my house,” he said.

“I don’t know (how Mr Robinson knew I had it). I can’t remember if I called him and told him.”

The jury was then played a recording of an intercepted telephone call between Mr Purcell and Mr Wright on August 10, 2022.

“The Hobbs has been touched, like something had gone on with the Hobbs there with the . . . um . . . um, I don’t know, they’ve moved it forward or some f***ing thing as well,” Mr Wright allegedly said.

Mr Purcell asked him “What’s the Hobbs — what’s the ‘Hobbs’ mean?”

Mr Wright says, “Uh, just the clock — the meter clock.”

“Anyway, so — so yeah, just going through a few motions there - just don’t know exactly what and I’m just trying to think how much Sebby’s — or what Sebby’s tried to say to them, if anything even, because as lot of this stuff they could’ve got out of the — “

Mr Purcell then said “MR”.

Mr Wright continues: “Out of the logs, you know, the maintenance logs.”

In court, Mr Purcell told Mr Gullaci he “can’t remember this phone call” or what the pair were speaking about.

“It was three years ago, I can’t remember mate,” he said.

“It could be related to anything. I can’t specifically say it was related to the crash.

“I don’t know what Sebby — what Matt was saying about Sebby . . . I don’t know, it was three years ago. I know I’ve got the transcript here in front of me, but I don’t know.”

CareFlight nurse Matthew Auld, who attended the fatal crash, also took the stand on Monday.

The court heard that upon arrival at the King River site, Mr Auld confirmed Wilson deceased before trying to stabilise Mr Robinson.

After the 28-year-old pilot was evacuated, Mr Auld stayed at the scene for about three hours with Wilson’s body.

While waiting for the CareFlight chopper to return, Mr Auld heard Mr Wright and others discuss removing items from the destroyed chopper.

“I heard (Mr Wright) wonder what happened to the helicopter in terms of, he said something like ‘I wonder what the go is,” he said.

“Some dual controls were removed from the helicopter as well as some other items such as fuel jerry cans.

“I know (the dual controls) were not installed. They were under a seat.”

The trial, before Acting Justice Alan Blow, continues with Mr Robinson expected to give evidence on Tuesday.