A helicopter pilot who crashed into the roof of a luxury hotel in Cairns was part of an ‘unauthorised’ flight. It remains a mystery who was flying the chopper.
Emergency services rushed to the scene after the twin-engine helicopter rammed the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel around 2 a.m. Monday morning.
Police have confirmed that the pilot, the sole occupant of the helicopter, died at the scene.
Two hotel guests, an 83-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman, were taken to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition after being assessed by paramedics.
Nautilus Aviation, the company that owns the helicopter, confirmed that it had not given permission for its use. The helicopter is believed to have come from the hangar at Cairns Airport.
“Nautilus Aviation is working closely with Queensland Police, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and other authorities in the investigation into the unauthorised use of one of our helicopters in the early hours of the morning,” a statement said.
According to Aaron Finn, CEO of Nautilus Aviation, no accredited pilot working for Nautilus Aviation flew the aircraft.
However, he could not rule out that someone else within the company was responsible.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Shane Holmes would not confirm whether police had positively identified the pilot and notified his next of kin
Police said the helicopter took off from Cairns Airport, where Nautilus Aviation has hangars (above), and was only in the air for a short time before crashing into the Double Tree Hilton, 6km away.
“We have quite a lot of staff in the organisation. We can’t identify (the person responsible) from CCTV footage, it’s very dark,” he told The Australian.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness described how the helicopter flew around “very fast” before hitting the hotel in a “huge explosion”.
“It was like a fuel tank exploding,” tourist Veronica Knight told AAP.
Mrs Knight said she saw the helicopter flying around for about 15 minutes and that it flew past her twice “very quickly”.
The tourist from Sydney said she had never seen a helicopter fly so fast.
“It came back really quickly and then went into the hotel. I was very scared,” she said.
‘It looked like an army helicopter, but faster. Like a warplane, like it was going to come at you and bomb you.’
The helicopter’s propellers came loose in the crash, one of which landed on the main street and the other in the hotel’s swimming pool.
“We saw the rotor on the ground. I wasn’t far from it. It could have hit me,” Ms Knight said.
The crash caused a fire, meaning emergency services were unable to immediately enter the hotel, said Caitlin Denning of Queensland Ambulance Service.
Stock photo of a Nautilus helicopter from the Facebook page
“At that point it was too unsafe for us to enter the hotel and see the (impact site),” she told reporters.
Queensland Police Acting Chief Inspector Shane Holmes said police had launched an investigation to determine how the helicopter was captured.
“The plane was moved from a general aviation hangar early this morning. It was an unauthorized flight.
“We are working with local airlines to determine the circumstances before the plane took off.”
When asked about the pilot’s identity, he said he was not sure at this stage of the investigation.
“We have some preliminary information, but we don’t have formal confirmation of the identity yet.”
Australian Transport Safety Bureau Commissioner Angus Mitchell dismissed speculation that an untrained pilot had flown the helicopter.
Two people who were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation when the plane hit their hotel room window (above) were “vacationers” who were sleeping and “lucky not to be seriously injured”
“It’s definitely very difficult to fly a helicopter if you have no experience,” he said.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles called it a “terrifying event”.
“I can’t imagine how scary it must be to be asleep, hear that bang and have to be evacuated.”
DoubleTree by Hilton management reported that all guests and staff had been safely evacuated.
“We are busy arranging alternative accommodation for these guests for this evening,” a statement said.
