Respected NT pastoralist mourned after fatal helicopter crash

The crash site was located on the remote Sturt Plateau, about 80km south of Mataranka or 180km south-east of Katherine, on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Harding, 59, had not been heard from after making contact with his Gorrie Station on Thursday informing of his intent to land but never arrived.

A search effort coordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Joint Rescue Coordination Centre located the aircraft and pilot at 5pm on Saturday..

Police said the pilot was located deceased at the wreckage of his Robinson R22 helicopter.

Northern Territory Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will be conducting an investigation on the fatal crash.

Mr Harding and family have run the nearby Gorrie Station since 1988.

The station takes in about 80,000 hectares (197,684 acres) about 100km to the south of Mataranka.

Mr Harding was known to be an experienced pilot and a well-respected station manager.

He was named Roper Gulf Regional Council's citizen of the year for Mataranka in 2022.

Mataranka is most famous as the location of Jeannie Gunn's famous novel We of the Never Never published in 1908, her account of life at Elsey Station.

The fatal helicopter crash is one of many which have rocked Northern Australia in recent months.

In August, three US marines were killed and 20 others were injured, following the crash of an Osprey military aircraft on the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin.

In July, a 65-year-old helicopter pilot involved in a routine outback mustering operation died in in the Katherine region, after his chopper crashed on Limbunya Station in the Victoria River District.

In November last year, a 47-year-old pilot was killed in a helicopter crash in the remote community of Ramingining in East Arnhem Land.

Outback Wrangler star Chris 'Willow' Wilson died in a helicopter crash last year. A lack of fuel may have caused the fatal crash of the Matt Wright-owned Robinson R-44 helicopter.