Decorated army pilot Captain Danniel Lyon tragically killed with three of his ... trends now
Decorated army pilot Captain Danniel Lyon warned his colleagues someone would die one day in an incident with a helicopter.
Months later, he was killed in a crash alongside Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs when their MRH-90 Taipan plunged into the sea off the Queensland coast.
The chopper, given the call sign Bushman 83, had been flying in formation with three others for Lindeman Island as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre in July 2023.
His wife Caitland Lyon remembers the terrible moment Defence representatives arrived at her door.
'In my mind, it had to be a prank ... there was no way in my mind that this could actually be happening,' she told an inquiry into the crash on Wednesday.
When she eventually let them in, they told her the father of their two children was missing, even though they knew there had been a catastrophic impact.
'It would have been easier to be told that the crew was dead ... far less cruel than having us hoping and praying for a miracle that wasn't going to happen,' she said.
Troop Commander Captain Dan Lyon (pictured) was one of the four men killed in the tragic helicopter crash during Exercise Talisman Sabre
Corporal Alex Naggs, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent and Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph Laycock (pictured from left to right) were the three others killed in the tragedy
A few months earlier, Capt Lyon had attended a meeting with Defence to discuss an incident at Jervis Bay on NSW's south coast, where an MRH-90 ditched into the sea after an engine failed in March 2023.
The crew had been praised for their handling of the
