A pilot who died when he crashed into an Australian hotel during an unauthorized helicopter flight had attended a party with staff the night before, his employer said.
The crash on Monday morning, which forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from the Cairns building, occurred hours after the employee had just celebrated a private farewell party with colleagues.
The pilot was killed in the accident, while a couple staying at the hotel were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Their condition is said to be stable, while no one on the ground was injured.
Cairns city authorities said they had not confirmed the identity of the pilot or the reason for the flight, nor did they know how the tourist helicopter was able to take off from Cairns airport.
However, a statement on Monday confirmed that the pilot was a “current Nautilus Aviation ground crew employee” who was using the company’s Queensland-based helicopter and had “unauthorised access to the helicopter hangar”.
Nautilus Aviation said its employee, who had been with the company for about four months, had celebrated a private farewell party with colleagues on Sunday “hours before the crash.”
A statement said: “We can confirm that this event did indeed take place and was a privately organised farewell for the individual involved in the incident on Monday morning who was recently promoted to a ground staff position at another of our bases. This was not a work event and was coordinated by friends.”
The person has a license to fly helicopters in New Zealand but has never done so in Australia or for the company, the helicopter tour office added.
Due to the crash in which they were involved, about 400 people had to be evacuated from the hotel in the early hours of the morning.
Eyewitnesses told local news agencies that the crash sounded like a bomb explosion, while smoke and flames rose from the roof of the Doubletree Hilton. According to Australian broadcaster ABC, one of the helicopter’s rotor blades landed in the hotel pool.
The hotel has been cordoned off since then while its structural integrity is being checked, it said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Nautilus Aviation said in its statement that the company had held discussions with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and had cooperated with full transparency and disclosure of all events before and after the incident.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased and all those affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this extremely difficult time,” the statement said.
“We will continue to work very closely with QPS and ATSB as they investigate the circumstances of the incident.”
