A pilot who died after an unauthorised helicopter flight saw them crash into a hotel in Australia had attended a party with staff members the night before, their employer has said.
The crash on Monday morning, which prompted the evacuation of hundreds of people from the building in Cairns, came hours after the employee had been celebrating at a private send-off with colleagues.
The pilot was killed in the accident, while a couple staying at the hotel were hospitalised suffering from smoke inhalation. They were said to be in a stable condition while no one else on the ground was reported to be hurt.
Authorities in the city of Cairns said that they had not confirmed the identity of the pilot, their reason for making the flight or how the tourist helicopter was able to take off from Cairns Airport.
However, a statement on Monday confirmed the pilot “was a current [Nautilus Aviation] employee in ground crew position” who had used the company’s Queensland-based helicopter and had “unauthorised access to [the] helicopter hangar.”
Nautilus Aviation said it’s employee of approximately four months had on Sunday been celebrating at a “private send-off with colleagues hours before the crash.”
A statement said: “We can confirm this event did occur and was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning’s incident, who was recently promoted to a ground crew position at another one of our bases. This was not a work event and was coordinated by friends.”
The individual was licensed to fly helicopters in New Zealand but had never done so in Australia or for the company, the helicopter tour agency added.
The crash they were involved in saw some 400 people evacuated from the hotel in the early hours of the morning.
Witnesses told local news outlets the crash sounded like a bomb exploding as smoke and flames billowed from the roof of the Doubletree Hilton. According to the Australian broadcaster ABC, one of the helicopters’ rotor blades had also landed in the hotel pool.
The hotel has since remained cordoned off while its structural integrity is being examined, it was said on Monday.
Meanwhile Nautilus Aviation said in it’s statement it had completed interviews with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Queensland Police Service (QPS), and had cooperated with full transparency and disclosure of all events leading up to and following the incident.
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual’s family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period,” the statement said.
“We will continue to work very closely with QPS and the ATSB as they investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
