Taipan helicopter crash inquiry: Grieving step mum blasts ‘insensitive’ and ‘dismissive’ Defence department

The Defence department is being accused of being trying to shift blame to “human error” from an Army pilot for the deaths of four soldiers in a Taipan helicopter crash off Queensland three years ago.

A senate inquiry will on Monday again examine the handling of the fatal accident involving an MRH-90 helicopter which came down in poor weather over water during a 2023 military exercise in the Whitsundays.

Captain Danniel Lyon and co-pilot Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent were killed along with Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs in an incident which prompted the Army to retire its Taipan helicopter fleet early.

In a written submission to the inquiry Sue Lyon, the stepmother of Danniel Lyon, claims: “there appears to have been a determination from the outset to attribute responsibility for this accident to Danniel through a finding of human error”.

“Danniel was my stepson for the last 30 years of his life. From the time of Danniel’s crash, the Department of Defence has shown little empathy or consideration towards the families of the pilots involved.”

“As a grieving stepmother, I have personally witnessed and experienced behaviour from Defence personnel that I consider unacceptable, insensitive and dismissive,” Mrs Lyon says in her submission to the “MRH-90 Taipan Helicopter incident” inquiry.

Mrs Lyon has hit out at the “lack of transparency, accountability and honesty” during the investigation process and accused the Army and Defence investigators of being determined to blame “human error” by her stepson Danniel for the fatal accident.

“Rather than providing families with confidence that all relevant issues have been thoroughly and independently examined, Defence has left me with serious concerns about the way this matter has been handled.”

“Having watched the Senate Inquiry proceedings, those concerns have only been reinforced. I have no confidence in the transparency, honesty or reliability of the investigative processes that have been followed,” Mrs Lyon writes.

“From my perspective, there appears to have been a determination from the outset to attribute responsibility for this accident to Danniel through a finding of human error and this has been their focus from the very beginning of the inquiry.”

In June former Army test pilot Ian Wilson told the Senate committee that an investigation into the Taipan crash was “corrupted” and there was a well-known conflict of interest inside the inquiry team.

Family members of the four soldiers killed in the crash last week lodged a class action against the Commonwealth and helicopter manufacturer Airbus, with the Defence department saying it is currently considering the claim.

On Monday afternoon Mrs Lyon is scheduled to give evidence by video link to the senate inquiry along with representatives of the Defence department.