Commonwealth prosecutors won’t pursue charges against Dept of Defence over fatal Taipan crash which killed four soldiers
The prosecutors of the Nations community will not accuse the defense after death in a terrible army helicopter crash – even after determining serious problems with the night vision technology and fatigue used by the soldiers.
The bomb update is approaching the two -year anniversary of the destructive event claiming the lives of Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Varant Officer Class 2 Phillip Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs.
Four were in the MRH-90 Taipan helicopter with the Bushman 83 call sign when he dived into the waters on the Hamilton Island of Queensland on July 28, 2023.
At that time, the aircraft exercise was flying in the formation of three other helicopters during the Talisman Saber.
Captain Lyon, for 21 seconds, “lost the direction” for 21 seconds, when the plane lost control of the co -pilot lieutenant Nugent with the Bushman 83 was a pilot.
He managed to avoid a collision in the air by rolling the plane to the right-the Bushman 82, who directed him from another helicopter path.
Bushman hit 83 water at 259km/s and killed everyone on board.
A 228 -page report by the Defense Flight Safety Office (DFSB) revealed the timeline of the tragedy by connecting the primary cause of the accident to a spatial orientation disorder.
At the end of July 2023, Comcare, a national authority for occupational health and safety, began to investigate potential health and security crimes related to the accident.
Investigations focused on the duties of the Ministry of Defense, who owes the workers to the workers in accordance with the “Commonwealth Work Health and Security Law 2011”.
In a statement, a Comcare Spokesman said inspectors provided a brief evidence to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (CDPP).
However, according to CDPP’s latest advice to Comcare, any potential prosecution of the workplace health and safety violations will not be made.
Comcare spokesman CDPP said to the regulator in July that he did not think there was enough evidence to start a prosecution ”.
Newswire contacted CDPP for a comment.
The news angry the family members of the deceased soldiers, Lieutenant Nugent’s father Daniel said it was a “shame ..
“We are not given a real opportunity to object to the decision or to lobbying something like that,” ABC said.
“Are we treating people in our country?”
DFSB’s report, published in May, summarized 196 findings, including indirect findings and observations, and made 46 suggestions in the Defense Aviation Security Program.
It was one of the most complex research of the department recently.
The cockpit sound of a change between Captain Lyon and Lieutenant Nugent shared a short change before the accident, and Captain Lyon lost his visual contact with Bushman 82 and tried to navigate the rain shower.
When they tried to regain the view of the aircraft, both pilots did not notice a critical change in the field of the Bushman 83, as helicopters came above the formation.
In the report, the Captain Lyon is progressing further and pushed his planes into a deadly nose.
The inspectors found that Captain Lyon’s last second illegal maneuver had saved four more lives, avoiding the collision of the mid -air with Bushman 82.
The DFSB report found that Captain Lyon and Lieutenant Nugent had been tired of sleeping in the tents at Proserpine Airport in previous days and waiting for two hours before taking off.
The investigation also evaluated whether the pilots were criticized and criticized and criticized in the test reports for the reverse curtain and roll screens when their heads were dizzy.
The helmet was described by the army test pilots as “multiple death risk ,, but DFSB found that it was not“ possible ”to cause ordeal disorder.
“Both Aate and Standards Department Test and Evaluation Reports agreed that there were deficiencies related to attitude presentation, but the two agencies did not agree with the seriousness of the danger,” he said.
