A pilot died in a fiery crash after he hijacked one of his own company’s helicopters and crashed into the rooftop of a Hilton hotel in Australia. Hours before the crash, he had attended a party thrown on his behalf celebrating a promotion, his company said.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday morning in the popular tourist city of Cairns, a coastal town near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. After the helicopter crashed into the DoubleTree by Hilton, hundreds of hotel guests were evacuated as smoke and flames billowed from the hotel’s rooftop.
A couple who were staying at the hotel were rushed to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and have since been discharged. No one else was hurt in the crash, authorities said.
On Tuesday afternoon, the company that the pilot worked for released a statement sharing new details about the circumstances of the crash.
Nautilus Aviation wrote that the man who died was a member of the company’s ground crew. He held a helicopter pilot’s licence in New Zealand but was not authorized to fly in Australia.
The worker was somehow able to gain “unauthorized access to our helicopter hangar and misappropriated one of our helicopters.”
Hours before the crash, employees of Nautilus Aviation had thrown a farewell party for the man, celebrating his promotion to a ground crew position at another one of the company bases.
“We can confirm this event did occur and was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning’s incident,” the company wrote. “This was not a work event and was co-ordinated by friends.”
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An unnamed source from the company told 9News Queensland that the worker had been drinking at the party before the crash.
Nearly 400 people were evacuated from the DoubleTree Hilton in Cairns after the helicopter crashed into the rooftop around 2 a.m. on Monday. Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft flying at a high speed and notably low to the ground as it flew along the shoreline. The Cairns Hilton is situated right on the coast.
Witnesses also described seeing the helicopter zip by the hotel twice before crashing into the roof.
Veronica Knight, who was staying at the Hilton that night, told CNN that she saw the helicopter the first time going at “full speed” before it disappeared from sight. A few minutes later it was back, and she saw the aircraft veer and head straight towards the hotel, crashing into the roof and exploding into flames and smoke.
Knight posted a video of the crash aftermath to her Facebook page, showing orange smoke billowing from the Hilton rooftop as alarms ring out.
Amanda Kay, who was also a guest at the hotel, told the BBC that she saw the helicopter flying “extra low” without its lights on in rainy weather. The aircraft “blew up” on impact, she said.
Multiple Australian news outlets reported that the pilot who died was Blake Wilson, a 23-year-old from New Zealand. Authorities have not officially released the victim’s name. Queensland Police Service (QPS) acting chief superintendent Shane Holmes told reporters that the pilot was the sole occupant of the helicopter.
The wreckage of the helicopter was removed from the hotel roof on Monday night but the building remains cordoned off as authorities examine its structural integrity. The crash left behind scorch marks and broken windows.
Two of the helicopter’s rotor blades flew off in the crash. One landed on the hotel’s seaside esplanade and the other in the pool, the Queensland Ambulance Service said.
Nautilus Aviation says it has been working with authorities and completed interviews with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and Queensland police. Recording devices from the helicopter have been sent out for analysis to better understand the events that led up to the crash.
Investigators believe the helicopter was stolen from Nautilus’s hangar at Cairns Airport, about five kilometres away from the Hilton hotel.
Nautilus Aviation wrote that it offers its “heartfelt condolences to the individual’s family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period.”
“We will continue to work very closely with QPS and the ATSB as they investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Global News reached out to Nautilus Aviation for more details but did not receive a response by publication time.
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