A helicopter crashed into the roof of a hotel in the popular tourist resort of Cairns in northern Australia, killing the pilot and forcing hundreds of guests to be evacuated, authorities said Monday. Emergency services were called at around 2 a.m. Monday after a twin-engine helicopter collided with the roof of the hotel, causing a fire on the building’s roof and prompting evacuations, Queensland state police said in a statement.
Police said forensic investigations were currently underway to officially identify the pilot. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. “The people on the ground were not injured,” the police statement said.
The crash occurred at the Hilton Double Tree Hotel in the city of Cairns, a major gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Australian media reported. Two of the helicopter’s rotor blades came loose and one landed in the hotel pool, media reports said. The forensic accident unit will work with the Australian Transport Safety Authority to prepare an accident report, police said.
“Unauthorized” helicopter
Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Shane Holmes told reporters that no one else on the ground was injured. Holmes said it was not known if the man flying the helicopter had a pilot’s license or if he worked for the company that owned the plane, Nautilus Aviation. “There is no further threat to the public and we believe this is an isolated incident,” Holmes said. Nautilus Aviation said in an unattributed written statement that the flight was “unauthorized” but declined to provide further details.
Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker said initial findings from a review on Monday showed there had been “no compromise to the airport’s security program or processes”.
“Yeah, it was about 2 a.m., we just heard a swirling noise, like a big hurricane, and that was (when I was) lying in bed – I actually thought I was dreaming. And then about two seconds later, there was like a very loud bang, actually several bangs,” said Anthony Viviano, a tourist staying at the hotel.
“The room started shaking, the doors and everything. And then I quickly ran to the kids who had woken up and were screaming ‘What was that?’ I thought we were being attacked or something, and yeah, we just walked out of the apartment and saw that there were flames blazing over the hotel across the street, about 10 meters away. And yeah, we were just told to evacuate the building,” he added.
(With contributions from the agency)
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