Inquest into pilot Matthew Farrell's death hears aviation body withheld licensing concerns
Cinematographer and environmentalist Matthew Farrell used his experience in paragliding to convert more quickly to a pilot’s licence. (Supplied: Maurice Blackburn)
A Victorian coroner has labelled allegations that Australia’s largest administrator of pilots concealed its concerns about licensing a man who fatally crashed his plane “deeply troubling”.
An inquest into the death of light plane pilot Matthew Farrell began in January.
Mr Farrell crashed his Jabiru plane in September 2022 in the Shelley State Forest while flying between Mount Beauty and Wollongong.
A keen paraglider living in Tawonga, he obtained a recreational pilot’s certificate in April 2022 through an accelerated conversion pathway.
New evidence was delivered before Coroner Paul Lawrie during a directions hearing in the Coroners Court of Victoria on Tuesday.
It showed Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus) held extensive correspondence amongst its senior members outlining concerns about Mr Farrell’s certification just weeks after his death.
The documents brought forward as new evidence by barrister Patrick Over, who is representing Mr Farrell’s fiancee Karen Waller, had not been disclosed to the police or at any time during the inquest.
They showed the then-RAAus Head of Flight Operations, Jillian Bailey, had disclosed to then-CEO Matthew Bouttell just weeks after the crash that she may have inadvertently certified Mr Farrell in contravention of the operations manual.
Ms Bailey was then stood down from her role for one week as a consequence of her disclosure.
It came while she was also playing a role investigating the crash, but the potential conflict of roles was never disclosed.
Other correspondence showed concerns by Sports Aviation Federation of Australia (SAFA) that Mr Farrell was not a careful and conscientious assessor of risk while he was training for his pilot licence following three self-reported incidents.
“Serious concerns were expressed by SAFA about Mr Farrell’s appetite for risk,” Mr Over told the court.
The court also heard concerns that RAAus’ legal representative, GSG Legal, failed to disclose an array of documents to police or the inquest despite their obligations as legal practitioners.
Mr Over said he found the documents by “fortuitous happenstance” when trying to identify correspondence that was being referred in the minutes before close of evidence during the inquest.
Council assisting the coroner, Adam Baker, described the actions as deliberate concealment of documents and a “cover-up”.
‘Conduct of the most troubling kind’
Coroner Lawrie said the documents that had not been submitted as part of the investigation or inquest showed concerning behaviour within RAAus.
“The documents here, if I interpret them as they appear on their face, reveal conduct of the most troubling kind that is not restricted to one or two people within RAAus, but seems to have been within the knowledge of essentially the arms, the limbs, and the brain of the organisation,” Coroner Lawrie said.
“It’s difficult to express how grave an example it is for an organisation such as [RAAus] to approach a public inquest into the death of one of its members in the way that [it] apparently has.
“How do I not find that material was knowingly held from this court?
“I have applied the principal of charity to try to interpret things in the most favourable way and I cannot see how I can conclude otherwise.”
He said it was fortunate the documents were uncovered.
“The documents as I read them are clear and deeply, deeply troubling,” he said.
A lawyer appearing on behalf of GSG Legal told the court he anticipated allegations of wrongdoing would be strongly refuted and detracted from the purpose of the inquest.
“The key question at the heart of this inquiry is what were the circumstances that lead to Mr Farrell taking off on that day,” he said.
The inquest continues.