Government department charged over death of Antarctic pilot David Wood
Updated
The Department of Environment and Energy and a helicopter contractor have been charged over the death of a helicopter pilot.
David Wood died of hypothermia after falling down a crevasse on the Western Shelf in the Australian Antarctic Territory.
An ongoing coronial inquest has heard he was trapped for hours and while he was pulled alive from the crevasse, he later died of hypothermia.
A statement from the federal workplace safety regulator Comcare claimed the department failed in its duties under the federal Work Health and Safety Act.
Charges were also laid against Captain Wood's employer Helicopter Resources.
Each party will face three charges relating to Captain Wood's death.
The maximum penalty for each charge is $1.5 million.
The case will be heard in the ACT Magistrates Court in February.
Topics: workplace, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, antarctica, canberra-2600, act, australia
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