Helicopter pilot in fatal Australia hotel crash was ground crew who’d attended a party the night before

By Hilary Whiteman and Jessie Yeung, CNN

Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — The pilot killed when a helicopter crashed into the roof of a luxury hotel in Cairns, Australia, on Monday was an employee of the charter company that owned the aircraft, but wasn’t authorized to fly, the group confirmed in a statement.

Nautilus Aviation said Tuesday that the pilot had been with the company for four months and had attended a party the night before the crash to celebrate their promotion to another ground crew job with the firm at another base.

“This was not a work event and was coordinated by friends,” the statement said.

Hundreds of guests and staff of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel were evacuated when the helicopter crashed into the building near the Cairns Esplanade, a waterfront boardwalk popular with travelers in the north Queensland city, in the early hours of Monday.

Flames leaped into the night sky after the aircraft burst into flames, spilling fuel across the top of the hotel, damaging some upper windows of the seven-story building.

Two holidaymakers who had been sleeping on the top floor of the hotel were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Queensland Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Shane Holmes said Monday the pilot had made “an unauthorized flight,” but declined to comment on whether the helicopter had been stolen or whether the crash was deliberate, saying all lines of inquiry remained open.

Angus Mitchell, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), said investigators believe the helicopter took off from the general aviation hangar at Cairns Airport, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the hotel.

“We know that visibility was down at the time and there was possible rain,” he said.

“We want to understand what the helicopter was equipped with, but also potentially what the helicopter was doing at the time and any nature of the flight.”

Witness Veronica Knight, who was visiting Cairns from Sydney, was sitting on the esplanade, talking on the phone after midnight, when she saw a helicopter fly by very low over the water.

It was going “full speed,” she told CNN. It disappeared from her sight for a few minutes, and she started walking home before spotting the helicopter flying back. As she pulled out her phone to film it, the helicopter veered and headed straight toward the nearby well-lit buildings.

Seconds later, it hit the roof of the hotel, just before 2 a.m.

Knight’s videos show the orange glow of flames and smoke coming from the top of the hotel, while sirens wail in the distance.

She said the helicopter had passed over trees and another taller building before hitting the roof of the hotel.

“[The pilot] would have known those buildings were there,” said Knight.

In a statement to CNN, DoubleTree by Hilton Cairns said all of its guests – 421 adults and 50 children, plus two staff – were safely evacuated.

Other investigators include the forensic crash unit and the ATSB, which sent a team to the crash site on Monday to gather evidence and conduct interviews.

The bureau asked witnesses with any photos or videos of the helicopter to contact authorities through its website.

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