An aviation regiment leader was told an investigation found no evidence of a technical malfunction with a helicopter that crashed off the Queensland coast killing four men, an inquiry has heard.
Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs died in the tragedy on July 28, 2023.
The men were flying an MRH-90 Taipan with the call sign Bushman 83 near Lindeman Island during exercise Talisman Sabre, a joint training exercise between Australian and American forces.
Captain Danniel Lyon, Corporal Alexander Naggs, Lieutenant Max Nugent and Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock. (Supplied: ADF)
The inquiry, led by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, is looking at the circumstances leading up to, during and following the crash.
The commander officer, known as D137, was not the commanding officer of the 6th Aviation Regiment at the time.
In his statement to the inquiry, D137 said he had been briefed by Brigadier Fern Thompson, commanding officer of the 16th Aviation Brigade, in August.
D137 said he was told the Defence Flight Safety Bureau (DFSB) had found "no evidence of technical malfunction by Bushman 83 and the configuration of the aircraft".
D137 said he had not been officially briefed on the DFSB investigation.
"I don't know what document it was, whether it was a executive summary or its initial findings, but it was just prior to the the hearing back in August," he said.
"It was a very short briefing that included those things."
The inquiry was told earlier this week the DFSB investigation report would not be delivered this year as planned, but it was hoped it would be delivered before March 31, 2025.
Brigadier Fern Thompson will give evidence to the inquiry in Brisbane tomorrow.