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 company that owned the plane, but did not have a licence to fly, the airline that owned the plane confirmed in a statement.
Nautilus Airlines said Tuesday that the pilot had been with the company for four months and attended a party the night before the crash to celebrate his promotion to another ground crew position with the company at another base.
“This was not a business event but was coordinated by friends,” the statement read.
Hundreds of guests and staff at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel were evacuated when the helicopter crashed into the building near the Cairns Esplanade, a waterfront promenade popular with travellers in the north Queensland city, in the early hours of Monday morning.
Flames shot into the night sky after the plane caught fire, spilling fuel across the top of the hotel and damaging some of the seven-story building’s upper windows.
Two tourists who were sleeping on the top floor of the hotel were taken to hospital for treatment after suffering minor injuries.
Queensland Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Shane Holmes said on Monday the pilot had made an “unauthorised 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.
Investigators believe the helicopter took off from a general aviation hangar at Cairns Airport, about five kilometres (three miles) from the hotel, said Angus Mitchell, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
“We know that visibility was low at the time and there was a possibility of rain,” he said.
“We want to understand what the helicopter was equipped with, but also what the helicopter was doing at the time and what the nature of the flight was.”
Witness Veronica Knight, who was visiting Cairns from Sydney, was sitting on the square talking on the phone after midnight when she saw a helicopter flying very low over the water.
She told CNN the plane was going “full speed.” She lost sight of it for a few minutes and began walking home before she saw the helicopter flying back. As she pulled out her phone to film it, the helicopter veered off and headed straight into nearby, well-lit buildings.
Seconds later, it hit the roof of the hotel, just before 2 a.m.
Videos posted by Knight show flames and orange smoke coming from the top of the hotel, while sirens wail in the distance.
She added that the helicopter passed over trees and another taller building before crashing into the hotel’s roof.
“[The pilot] “They could have known these buildings were there,” Knight said.
In a statement to CNN, the DoubleTree by Hilton Cairns hotel said all of its guests — 421 adults and 50 children, as well as two staff — were safely evacuated.
Other investigators include the Criminal Accident Investigation Unit and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which sent a team to the crash site on Monday to collect evidence and conduct interviews.
The office asked witnesses who have any photos or videos of the helicopter to contact authorities through its website.
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