Outback Wrangler Matt Wright‘s wife has demanded more answers from authorities as she opened up about how her husband is coping behind bars.
The TV star was sentenced to 10 months in jail in December after a jury convicted him on two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice over the helicopter crash that claimed the life of his close mate Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson and paralysed pilot Sebastian Robinson almost four years ago.
Wright has launched an appeal against the convictions.
Currently pregnant with their third child, Wright’s wife Kaia has broken her silence to reveal he’s doing as ‘well as could be expected’ behind bars.
Wright was forced to have his head shaved when taken into custody and is confined to a shared cell, where he keeps to himself, according to jail sources.
Kaia visits once a week and speaks to her husband on the phone when there are ‘available windows’.
She has called for change and further investigation into the cause of the crash after an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report containing forensic evidence was unable to be used during her husband’s trial.
Kaia claimed what was supposed to be an investigation into the cause of the crash instead focused on her husband and provided little closure.
Kaia Wright (left) claims the investigation focused more on her husband (right) than the cause of the deadly helicopter crash
Kaia Wright (right) hopes the Outback Wrangler star (left) will be released from jail in time for the birth of their third child
‘What is frustrating is that following the trial we all thought there would be some sort of flow-on justice or answers and that an investigation would continue into the crash. And it just does not seem that an investigation is happening,’ Kaia told news.com.au.
‘It’s not that we want anyone else to suffer. It’s a want for the truth to be out there and for police answers as to why this investigation stopped.’
Kaia claimed that a balanced and rigorous police investigation would have exhausted all options to get answers into the cause.
‘All of the information is already there, they just need to follow it up and investigate for themselves – look at everything presented, the forensic evidence, the expert opinions from aviation specialists in Australia and America, consider the statements from all the people who were there that day and involved closely after the crash,’ she said.
‘So many things in this investigation just make no sense at all.’
An NT Police spokesman said that officers investigated both the crash itself and conduct that followed, adding that all relevant matters were thoroughly assessed.
The February 2022 tragedy happened during a crocodile-egg collecting trip in Arnhem Land while Mr Wilson was slung on a line below a chopper to drop onto nests in remote swampland.
Wright was accused of lying to crash investigators about the fuel level, of trying to get Mr Robinson to falsify flying hours, and of asking a friend to ‘torch’ the helicopter’s maintenance release.
Kaia Wright spent New Year’s Eve with her children as her husband shared a jail cell with other inmates
The detective also made comments about the helicopter involved in the February 2022 fatal crash, claiming it was ‘not… serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s directions’
On August 29, a jury found Wright guilty on the first two counts but could not reach agreement on the third torching accusation.
Prosecutors alleged Wright was worried investigators would learn his choppers’ flying-hour meters were regularly disconnected to extend hours beyond official thresholds, with paperwork falsified to match.
The prosecution did not allege Wright caused the chopper crash, the death of Mr Wilson, or Mr Robinson’s injuries.
It was highly likely the helicopter that crashed should not have been flying after exceeding its maximum flight time of 2,200 hours, at which it should have been retired or undergone a costly overhaul, Justice Blow said.
‘It is clear you had reason to fear that a thorough investigation might reveal that the 2,200-hour limit had been exceeded,’ he said.
Justice Blow said Wright lied to police about there still being fuel in the crashed chopper but accepted it was a spontaneous bid to avoid charges being laid to protect himself and his friend Mr Robinson.
Wright was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice following the 2022 helicopter crash that killed his mate Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson (pictured)
The more serious charge was a pre-planned bid to get Mr Robinson to falsify flying hour records by putting hours from the crashed chopper onto the pilot’s own machine.
‘That was a serious attempt to pervert the course of justice,’ the judge said.
‘It’s significant that you had the callousness to make and pursue this request when Mr Robinson had recently come out of a coma and had just learned that he was unlikely ever to walk again.’
