Taipan helicopter crash investigation ‘corrupted’, inquiry told

A former Army test pilot has claimed an investigation into a Taipan helicopter crash that killed four soldiers was “corrupted” and there was a well-known conflict of interest inside the inquiry team.

Ex-major Ian Wilson told a parliamentary inquiry he warned the army its MRH-90 helicopters should not fly in poor weather over water, the same conditions on July 28, 2023, when Captain Danniel Lyon and Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent flew their aircraft into the ocean near Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands, killing themselves and Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs.

The Defence Flight Safety Bureau concluded the tired pilots became confused about where the ocean was on the dark, rainy night.

Mr Wilson blamed the electronic screens on the pilots’ helmets, which he said turned the clouds and ocean into “the same green haze”, which made it difficult to determine if the transport helicopter was climbing or descending.

“And then when you put rain over the top of that, you’ll get scintillation or like static coming through the image,” he said today. “So instead of having a clear horizon line, he now just has a green haze in front of him with no discernible horizon.”

Losing sight of the horizon is a common cause of aircraft accidents and usually happens in poor weather when an aircraft is close to the ground.

In this case, the Defence Department is under intense scrutiny over the possibility it may have cleared defective equipment for use and tried to cover up the mistake when the men died.

The night-vision technology attached to the helmets had another problem, according to Mr Wilson. When the pilot looked left or right, symbols on the display indicating whether the helicopter was tilting forwards or backwards, or left or right, moved in the opposite direction to when the pilot was looking forward.

”You would become disoriented,” he said. “And if you became disoriented, then you simply don’t know which direction to point your aircraft in.”

‘Fabricated evidence’

Supplied by French military contractor Thales and known as TopOwl, the technology is promoted by the company as making a “significant contribution to flight safety”.

Mr Wilson said the investigation’s findings were not backed up evidence, contradicted evidence or “was based on evidence that’s been fabricated”.

An expert who provided evidence to the official investigation might have authorised a memo underplaying the risk of the pilot’s night-vision technology before the crash, the hearing was told.

“I think that investigation has been corrupted,” Mr Wilson told the committee. “There was an obvious and well-known conflict of interest within the investigation team.

“This accident was completely foreseeable. It was formally reported in our test activity. As I said, I exercised every internal and external avenue available to try and prevent this.”

No prosecution

Workplace safety agency Comcare identified possible breaches of the laws over the pilots’ helmets but the Federal Director of Public Prosecutions last year said there was not enough evidence to charge the Defence Department.

Group Captain David Smith, the director of the Defence Flight Safety Bureau, said the investigation did not consider if any contributors to the report were conflicted about the cause.

“That conflict of interest was not a subject of our report, sir,” he said.

Greens senator David Shoebridge responded: “Well perhaps it should have been before you relied upon (the expert) and his evidence. Without his operational evaluation report it wouldn’t have been in the air.”

Comcare chief executive Colin Radford said the agency’s investigation was still open and it is possible charges could still be filed.

“Comcare considered there was evidence to support a view that Defence may have committed one or more offences under the Work Health and Safety Act,” he told the committee.

“Whilst the two-year limitation period has expired, the WHS Act allows for proceedings to be brought outside that period in specific circumstances.”

The crew, from the Sydney-based 6th Aviation Regiment, were flying in a helicopter given the call-sign Bushman 83, which was the third in a formation of four aircraft participating in the Talisman Sabre training exercise.

The Aviation Safety Investigation report found that after making a turn, Bushman 83 climbed more than 100 feet within 14 seconds.

With AAP