Officials described the scene at the DoubleTree Hilton as ‘catastrophic’
The pilot of a stolen helicopter has died after crashing the aircraft into a hotel roof during an ‘unauthorized flight’.
As many as 400 people were evacuated from the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel on Cairns Esplanade, in Far North Queensland, when the crash took place shortly before 2.00am local time on August 12.
The incident caused two of the aircraft’s rotor blades to disconnect from the aircraft, one of which landed on a walkway and the second into the hotel pool.
The top of the building also set alight amid what Angus Mitchell, Chief Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said was ‘devastation’.
He also described one of the hotel rooms close to the crash site as a ‘catastrophic sight’.
Speaking to ABC, he said: “It was devastation, obviously, the blades of the helicopter have gone into the room.”
Two guests staying at the hotel, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, had to be taken to hospital 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 determine details surrounding the helicopter flight, which charter company Nautilus Aviation said was ‘unauthorized’.
The roof of the hotel set alight in the crash. (7News)
The pilot who flew the helicopter has not yet been identified, but the company has said all of its pilots had been accounted for.
In a statement to ABC, Nautilus Aviation said: “Nautilus Aviation are working closely with Queensland Police, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and other authorities as they investigate the unauthorized 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 further comments at this time.”
Mitchell said the significant wreckage at the scene would mean it will take some time to determine what happened.
He explained: “Now we understand the helicopter was only in the air for a very short period of time coming out of the Cairns airport, down across parts of Cairns itself, and then ultimately into the side of the building.
“We’ll piece that together from not only witness statements and some of the CCTV that have captured it, but equally, what we can actually gather from the crash site itself, any of the recording devices that were on and operable on the helicopter that we can recover now.”
Officials described the scene as ‘catastrophic’. (7News)
“As we know from this particular crash site, we’ve got debris from across the road, into the pool, and indeed on the helicopter where it landed on the roof,” Mithcell continued.
“We know that a lot of stages of the flight, from our witness statements, the helicopter was quite low.
“So whether or not that’s been picked up by radar, whether the pilot has made any transmissions or not, that’s something that we will certainly look into.”
Investigators plan to try and gain further information from what was recorded by the air traffic control’s primary radar, as well as figuring out if the pilot was using the radio.
Queensland Police Service Acting Chief Superintendent Shane Holmes has expressed belief the crash was an isolated incident, and there is no threat to the community.
LADbible Group has contacted Hilton, Queensland Police and Nautilus Aviation for additional comment.
