'Unimaginable grief' as army chopper crash inquiry ends
Family members of four air crew killed in the 2023 incident broke down before consoling each other in Brisbane on Friday after describing their "unimaginable grief".
One family spoke of losing faith in the Australian Defence Force over the incident while tears flowed as a victim's wife described her husband's death as "preventable".
The emotional scenes capped the inquiry, launched after Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph "Phillip" Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs died when their MRH-90 Taipan crashed off Queensland's coast in July 2023.
The curtain was drawn on the probe before former judge Margaret McMurdo on Friday after nine hearings and dozens of witnesses spanning more than a year.
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Inquiry was formed in October 2023, tasked with examining the cause of the crash and whether the action or inaction of army personnel or others contributed.
Over the hearings concerns were raised by army personnel about the helicopter, severe fatigue and high workload for pilots and night-vision technology.
Statements from the air crew's families were heard on Friday, with Capt Lyon's wife Caitland breaking down over the "unbearable" evidence and describing her husband's death as "preventable".
But she said her husband would have wanted the truth behind the helicopter crash to be known.
"He would have fought for it, not just for himself, but for anyone in his position," she sobbed.
She recalled her husband warning "someone would die" after being unhappy with the response to an incident in March 2023 when an MRH-90 Taipan suffered an engine failure, causing it to ditch into the sea.
Months later Capt Lyon was killed with the three other colleagues when their Taipan crashed during the Exercise Talisman Sabre training exercise.
Ms Lyon said her husband trusted the defence force to keep him safe and equipment had been properly tested and selected.
"He gave everything. Even his life," she said.
Capt Lyon's mother Sue said she had lost faith in the defence force.
"Daniel's life cannot be returned to us, but we owe it to his memory and to others who served on July 28, 2023, (that this) never happens again," she said.
Lt Nugent's family said he was exactly where he wanted to be before it ended in tragedy.
"He was 24 with the world ahead of him ... he was doing what he loved," a family statement read.
"We will never get to see where life would have taken him or share in his joys."
Corp Naggs' partner Sarah Loft's voice cracked as she addressed the inquiry.
"It's been 652 days and I'm still unable to watch Friends or Modern Family, to move Alex's toothbrush from where he left it, or to accept that he's not coming home," she said.
"Dan, Max, Phil and Alex deserved better."
Parents Wayne and Dianne Laycock said they could still remember the day two people in khaki uniforms and shiny boots knocked on their door.
"We knew we had lost Phillip on that day," their statement read.
"Hardly a day goes by when we don't wake up in the morning (or) we go to bed at night without memories of Phillip and tears in our eyes."
The air crew's families urged the defence force to implement the inquiry's recommendations to prevent another tragedy occurring.
Ms McMurdo will hand down her findings at an undetermined date.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Open Arms 1800 011 046
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
18 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Accused Russian-born spy allegedly worked for WA cleaning company that bragged of ‘government building' access
A Russian-born Australian soldier accused of spying for Russia worked for a company that boasted of its access to 'government buildings' in WA. Kira Korolev, 41, and her husband Igor Korolev, 63, were charged in Brisbane last year with preparing to carry out an act of espionage. Ms Korolev, 40, was an intelligence officer with the Australian Defence Force, and Mr Korolev, 62, was a self-employed labourer. WA Police documents have previously revealed both were registered security officers in WA years before their arrest – a process that requires either a WA or overseas police clearance. Ms Korolev also allegedly worked for a cleaning company based in Perth before moving interstate. She worked for Airlite, a Perth-based company shuttered after it was bought by national conglomerate Millenium Services Group in 2016. On its website in 2015, the company described itself as 'Western Australia's leading security, maintenance and integrated services provider'. 'Our long service history has seen Airlite provide cleaning operations to a variety of facilities including … government buildings, manufacturing and production plants, healthcare and medical facilities and general office environments,' the company website said.
The Age
18 hours ago
- The Age
Accused Russian-born spy allegedly worked for WA cleaning company that bragged of ‘government building' access
A Russian-born Australian soldier accused of spying for Russia worked for a company that boasted of its access to 'government buildings' in WA. Kira Korolev, 41, and her husband Igor Korolev, 63, were charged in Brisbane last year with preparing to carry out an act of espionage. Ms Korolev, 40, was an intelligence officer with the Australian Defence Force, and Mr Korolev, 62, was a self-employed labourer. WA Police documents have previously revealed both were registered security officers in WA years before their arrest – a process that requires either a WA or overseas police clearance. Ms Korolev also allegedly worked for a cleaning company based in Perth before moving interstate. She worked for Airlite, a Perth-based company shuttered after it was bought by national conglomerate Millenium Services Group in 2016. On its website in 2015, the company described itself as 'Western Australia's leading security, maintenance and integrated services provider'. 'Our long service history has seen Airlite provide cleaning operations to a variety of facilities including … government buildings, manufacturing and production plants, healthcare and medical facilities and general office environments,' the company website said.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘It is unconscionable': Defence abuse inquiry chair speaks out
A lawyer whose review uncovered widespread sexual abuse in the Australian Defence Force more than a decade ago has accused the armed forces and government of putting more personnel at risk by failing to act on key recommendations. Gary Rumble, one of the leaders of a 2011 review commissioned by the government that identified more than 1000 allegations of abuse, said it appeared very little had changed after a royal commission and an investigation in this masthead found abuse was ongoing. 'As far as I can tell, our report had little, if any, impact on successive governments and the ADF,' Rumble said. 'It is unconscionable that the ADF continues to run recruitment campaigns and advertisements targeted on recruiting women,' he said. 'My strong advice to anyone, particularly any woman, considering joining the ADF is to take the time to read just ... two pages.' Those pages of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide's report, delivered last year, describe how sexual assault and misconduct have contributed to suicides by current and former members of the defence force. 'The majority of victims are women … ex-serving women [are] dying by suicide at twice the rate of the general female population,' the report reads. Loading The 2011 investigation, co-led by Rumble, known as the DLA Piper review, made extensive recommendations to root out sexual misconduct in the defence force, including better management of records to identify perpetrators and aid convictions. But in evidence to the royal commission, defence officials testified they had not completed work on data analysis systems to support monitoring for sexual misconduct. 'I grieve for the members of the ADF whose lives have been damaged and lost,' Rumble said. Defence Minister Richard Marles is on leave and has not personally addressed this masthead's reporting that, nine months after the Royal Commission recommended a dedicated inquiry into sexual violence in the military, no one has been appointed to lead it.
