‘Hear it when I close my eyes’: Heartbroken households of Taipan crash unite as questions stay | USAEMALL.com

The families of four servicemen killed when their Taipan helicopter crashed during training exercises off the Queensland Whitsunday coast have united for first time as questions around the fatal crash persist.

Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock, and Corporal Alexander Naggs were killed when their MRH-90 crashed during night-time exercise in July 2023.

A report by the Aviation Safety Investigation concluded the primary cause of the accident was an “unrecognised loss of spatial orientation”, where a pilot is unaware of their actual orientation in relation to the earth.

An inquiry by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force will hand down its findings next year.

Speaking out, one of the families said the crash – the worst peacetime military incident in decades – should never have happened.

“This was an accident waiting to happen,” Dan Nugent, father of Lieutenant Maxwell Nugemt, told 60 Minutes.

Wife Marianna Nugent continued: “I think the truth hasn’t been told”.

The unreliability of the Taipan was a sticking point for many of the families.

The fleet was grounded after an MRH-90 Taipan was forced to ditch into the water following a malfunction during training exercises in March 2023.

After the July 2023 crash, the fleet were grounded permanently.

“You know his words to me was that they’ve given us a Ferrari when really a Commodore would’ve done the job,” Mr Nugent said of his son’s thoughts on the Taipan.

“The MRH 90 was incredibly temperamental. It had a lot of problems in availability and breakdowns and maintenance.”

Caitland Lyon, Captain Lyon’s wife, said the couple had a running joke referring Taipan: “Oh, did you get to fly today?”

“Oh, surprising it got up off the ground.”

Ms Lyon described her husband as someone “who was chasing surf covered in zinc, driving his Sandman”.

“He was just the best combination of people all put together and I was the lucky one. He chose me out of everyone.

“You know, that was the greatest privilege of my life to be his wife.”

Another issue were the pilot and copilot’s TopOwl helmets.

Retired test pilot Major Ian Wilson was tasked with testing the helmets, but told 60 Minutes the night vision component was flawed with a 50 per cent loss of efficiency.

Major Wilson said he and colleagues in Defence had handed a report to Defence in 2020 warning of risks associated with the helmets.

While retired at the time of the crash, he said the incident was “keeping me up at night”.

“I knew that the equipment I had tested was responsible,“ he said.

In its report, the Aviation Safety Investigation found it was unlikely the “known hazards” relating to the helmet contributed to the pilots’ loss of spatial orientation.

Fatigue was also a major focus of the report, as well as public hearings by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force to which Major Wilson gave evidence.

‘I hear it when I close my eyes’

Ms Lyon recalled talking to her husband on he day of the crash.

“I could hear all the blades and everything running, and I knew he couldn’t hear me, but I was saying, ‘I love you. I love you. I love you so much. I love you’,” she said.

“And his face squished up into his helmet, and that is the last time I ever saw him.”

She also remembers the say she had to tell her son, Noah, that his father was not coming home.

“The scream that came from him, I hear it when I close my eyes,” she said.

Speaking with 60 Minutes, the families were united for the first time in the two and a half years since the crash.

With no official memorial, the families instead go to the North Bondi RSL.

Dianne Laycock, the mother of Warrant Officer Phillip Laycock, still mourns the loss of her son.

“He was our son,” she said.

“Every, every celebration is now a sad one.

“And I think we, we just miss the opportunities that he’s missed, that he’s not there to see his, his children grow.”

In a statement to 60 Minutes, Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart said Defence remained “unreservedly committed to supporting thorough and independent investigations to determine what happened, and identify actions that prevent all aviation accidents and incident”.

“We are continuing to provide support to our people “Following this accident, as well as to the families of the aviators through Defence Member and Family Support.

“The Defence Flight Safety Bureau finalised the Aviation Safety Investigation Report on 28 March 2025.

“The investigation concluded that the primary cause of the accident was an unrecognised loss of spatial orientation, commonly referred to as spatial disorientation.

“All 46 recommendations made by the Defence Flight Safety Bureau’s Aviation Safety Investigation Report have been accepted and are being implemented by Defence.

“As the MRH-90 Taipan accident remains subject to ongoing investigations, I am not able to provide further comment.”

A spokesperson for Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said: “It is fundamentally important for the families of Captain Lyon, Lieutenant Nugent, Warrant Officer Class 2 Laycock and Corporal Naggs are able to understand what caused this accident.”

“The Government awaits the findings of all investigations into this accident.”