Outback Ballooning director pleads guilty years after tourist's death near Alice Springs

Stephanie Bernoth, from Sydney, died two days after the accident. (Supplied)

Outback Ballooning director Jason Livingston has pleaded guilty on behalf of the tour company for failing to comply with health and safety duties which lead to the death of a passenger in July 2013. 

Sydney woman Stephanie Bernoth, 35, suffered fatal injuries when the scarf she was wearing was sucked into an inflation fan while boarding a hot air balloon near Alice Springs. 

She was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died two days later.

A 2015 Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report into Ms Bernoth's death found the mesh and steel tubing guard around the inflation fan's blades was ineffective.

Defence counsel John Stirk told the Alice Springs Local Court that compensation was awarded to her family in 2014, however Judge Greg Borchers lamented the length of time it had taken for the matter to progress following the accident. 

Ms Bernoth's scarf was pulled into the fan blades while boarding the hot air balloon. (Supplied: Australian Transport Safety Bureau)

Long legal battle

Mr Livingston's guilty plea marked the end of a complex legal dispute over which jurisdiction should deal with the charges relating to the accident.

Outback Ballooning, which Mr Livingston purchased two weeks before Ms Bernoth died, has since faced the NT Local Court and Supreme Court as well as the High Court over the accident. 

The company has improved its safety measures, the ATSB says. (Supplied: Australian Transport Safety Bureau)

It was referred back to the Local Court in 2019 after the High Court found that NT Work Safe should be allowed to pursue charges and Outback Ballooning was ordered to pay costs for the drawn-out appeals process. 

Mr Stirk told the court that "the direction it took was largely a consequence of the insurer who was pertained by my client who is no longer involved".

He said the company charged over the accident, Outback Ballooning Pty Ltd, ceased trading in 2019 following the High Court's ruling.

A hot air ballooning company operated by Livingston of the same name still operates in Alice Springs. 

According to the ATSB report, Outback Ballooning has since improved the safety of its fans and established a passenger exclusion zone during loading. 

An additional crew member's sole duty is now to operate and oversee the fan's use. 

The matter will return to court on July 22 for a sentencing hearing.