Speaker 1 (00:00):
It comes as Chris’s wife Danielle launches a fresh lawsuit against Matt Wright’s company and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority seeking damages for her and her family following their tragic loss. Peter Carter is a pilot and lawyer who specializes in aircraft accidents and he joins us now. Good morning to you. Well Matt is defending charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice, as well as destroying and fabricating evidence, he has maintained his innocence, what can you expect from the court hearing?

Peter Carter (00:28):
Well, today’s a committal hearing, so most likely that he will be committed and go to trial. So there’ll be evidence given, the evidence will be available, and unless the magistrate takes a very contrary view, that matter will go to trial.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Okay. If he’s convicted Peter, could he face jail time?

Peter Carter (00:51):
Well, the trial will be some way down the track, that is a potential outcome. Yes.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
So the other side of it is Chris Wilson’s wife is suing Matt Wright’s company. Do you think she’ll be successful?

Peter Carter (01:05):
I think she’s got terrific prospects of success and the damages will likely be quite substantial given that the young age of the children, the claim is for dependency, the loss of financial support from her husband and for nervous shock, the psychological condition resulting from the calamity.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
You’ve said that you’re not at all surprised that Chris Wilson’s wife is doing this and the loss is terrible and there are people responsible.

Peter Carter (01:36):
Well, that’s apparent from the ATSB report. She’ll have to produce her own evidence. She can’t rely solely on that report, but they’ve paved the way for a very likely win against, certainly against the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and likely, well… Mr. Wright will have his own story to tell, but certainly against the Civil Aviation Authority, in my opinion.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
The case itself, Peter, the 113-page final report into the accident, finding their helicopter likely collided with terrain soon after takeoff due to fuel exhaustion, ran out of petrol. Is that how we understand it?

Peter Carter (02:18):
That’s exactly right. Yes. It’s very tragic circumstances. Of course, there were a lot of other influencing factors.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Peter Carter, you are a pilot and a lawyer. You specialize in aircraft accidents. We really appreciate your insights this morning. Thank you.

Peter Carter (02:38):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Thanks Peter.