The pilot of a stolen helicopter has died after the plane crashed into the roof of a hotel during an “unauthorized flight.”
When the accident occurred shortly before 2:00 a.m. local time on August 12, around 400 people were evacuated from the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel on the Cairns Esplanade in the far north of Queensland.
During the incident, two of the aircraft’s rotor blades came loose, causing one to land on a sidewalk and the second to land in the hotel pool.
The roof of the building also caught fire. Angus Mitchell, Chief Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, spoke of “devastation”.
He also described one of the hotel rooms near the crash site as a “catastrophic sight.”
He told ABC: “It was obviously a disaster, the helicopter’s rotor blades flew into the room.”
Two hotel guests, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, were hospitalized as a result of the incident but are said to be in a stable condition and have since been discharged.
Investigators are now trying to find out details about the helicopter flight, which charter company Nautilus Aviation said was “unauthorized.”
The crash caused the roof of the hotel to catch fire. (7News)
The pilot of the helicopter has not yet been identified, but the company said all pilots have been identified.
In a statement to ABC, Nautilus Aviation said: “Nautilus Aviation is working closely with Queensland Police, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and other agencies investigating the unauthorised use of one of our helicopters in the early hours of this morning.
“As we continue to fully support the ongoing investigation, we will not be making any further comment at this time.”
Mitchell said it would take some time to determine what happened due to the significant destruction at the scene.
He explained: “We now know that the helicopter was only in the air for a very short time as it left Cairns Airport, flew over parts of Cairns itself and eventually crashed into the side of the building.
“We will piece this together not only from witness statements and some video recordings, but also from what we can find out at the crash site itself, from all the recording equipment that was installed and functioning on the helicopter and that we can now recover.”
Officials described the scene as “catastrophic.” (7News)
“As we know from this particular crash site, we found debris from across the street, in the pool and even in the helicopter where it landed on the roof,” Mithcell continued.
“We know from witness statements at many stages of the flight that the helicopter was quite low.
“Whether that was picked up by radar or not, whether the pilot sent any signals or not, that’s something we’ll definitely investigate.”
Investigators want to use the recordings from air traffic control’s main radar to gain further information and find out whether the pilot used the radio.
Acting Chief Superintendent of the Queensland Police Service, Shane Holmes, expressed his belief that the accident was an isolated incident and posed no danger to the public.
The LADbible Group has contacted Hilton, Queensland Police and Nautilus Aviation for further comment.
