The pilot flying with captain David Wood on the day he fell through a crack in the ice in Antarctica had no training in crevasse rescue, an inquest has heard.
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On January 11, 2016, Mr Wood and his colleague Paul Sutton had sling loaded fuel under their helicopters to restock a fuel cache.
They were both flying solo with their loads, as were the rules.
But when Mr Wood landed and hopped out of his helicopter he fell into a crevasse and became tightly wedged.
Mr Sutton, 41, did not try to pull Mr Wood, 62, out but left him in the crevasse to return to Davis station and bring back help.
The court has heard the helicopters did not have ropes on board though one of the long sling lines had fallen in with Mr Wood.
Mr Sutton returned with three search and rescue specialists.
Mr Wood, who the court has heard was wearing only light clothing, spent four hours wedged in the crevasse before being retrieved.
His condition deteriorated during the rescue and he fell unconscious.
It was another hour until Mr Wood was back at Davis.
He died the following day of hypothermia, the inquest has heard.
Mr Sutton was Helicopter Resources' new senior pilot that summer, and Mr Wood was overseeing him on what was to be the older pilot's last tour of Antarctica.
Both were experienced helicopter pilots; Mr Wood had some 17,000 hours flying hours, and Mr Sutton had more than 4,000.
On Thursday, Mr Sutton told the inquest into Mr Wood's death that he had done three summer tours of Antarctica.
He also said he had no training in crevasse rescue.
While Mr Wood had a different leadership style, he was a "fantastic" pilot and "that sort of person you want to be working with", he said.
He told the court he spent his own money buying clothing to take to Antarctica, including thermals and a down vest.
He said the heavier gear supplied by the Australian Antarctic Division was always available in a compartment in the helicopter, but it often wasn't worn because it restricted visibility.
Mr Sutton will return on Friday to continue his evidence.
Earlier on Thursday, a glaciologist identified possible crevasses at the fuel cache site on a series of photographs from December 2015.
The photographs had been taken by another pilot, Bryan Patterson.
Mr Patterson was tasked with restocking the fuel cache on December 8, 2015 but the site appeared to him to be heavily crevassed.
He told the inquest he chose a different area, of "blue ice" not covered in snow, which he understood indicated a solid place to land.
He took photos of the site, and then showed them to a field training officer once he returned to Davis station.
It was this fuel cache site where Mr Wood eventually fell.
Glaciologist Ian Allison gave evidence that the temperature from about 10 metres into a crevasse would be about the average temperature of that area in Antarctica, in this case about -15 degrees.
The inquest is scrutinising the length of the rescue, the adequacy of the fuel cache site, Mr Wood's clothing, the rescue arrangements, and medical treatment during the rescue and resuscitation, and whether any of these factors contributed to his death.
The inquest in the ACT Coroner's Court continues.
