The company that owns the helicopter that crashed into a Cairns hotel early Monday, killing the pilot and sole occupant and forcing the evacuation of 400 guests, says the flight was “unauthorized” and the helicopter was stolen from a hangar at Cairns Airport.
Nautilus Aviation said they were working with police to determine exactly what happened in the early hours of the morning when the plane crashed into the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in Cairns, north Queensland, at 1:50am.
The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Forensic investigators are currently working on his official identification, police said. Nautilus Aviation said the pilot did not have permission to fly the aircraft. The company’s CEO, Aaron Finn, told the media that the helicopter had been illegally stolen.
He said the identity of the man responsible remains unknown.
All of the company’s pilots died after the crash, Finn said, according to The Australian. The incident was a shock for Nautilus. In response, all employees were given the day off.
Owner of the helicopter makes public statement
“Nautilus Aviation is working closely with Queensland Police, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and other agencies as they investigate the unauthorised use of one of our helicopters in the early hours of this morning,” it said in a statement on Monday.
“As we continue to fully support the ongoing investigation, we will not be making any further comments at this time.” According to unconfirmed media reports, no flight plan has been drawn up.
A passerby, Veronica Knight, said the helicopter was going incredibly fast before it crashed into the hotel. “It seemed to come from the pier over there and fly straight over the sea, straight, and it was going really, really fast. I thought, ‘Wow, that doesn’t look right,'” she told Sunrise.
“It was flying quite low, so I… I tried to film it, but it was flying too fast. And then it disappeared for about five to ten minutes. Then I got a shock, it came back again. It came back along the sea again. And along the esplanade, and then suddenly it turned to the right.
“I just saw a big explosion and what looked like a huge fire and I thought, yeah, it hit the motel directly.”
After the crash, a fire broke out on the roof of the hotel and up to 400 people had to be evacuated. However, no one on the ground was injured. Paramedics previously confirmed that they were called to the scene of the accident shortly after 2 a.m. and examined a male patient with life-threatening injuries.
The ATSB’s public appeal
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has urged members of the public who may have information or footage of the incident to contact authorities immediately. “The ATSB is deploying a team of three transport safety investigators from its Brisbane office with experience in aircraft operations and maintenance to the accident scene on Monday morning,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“They are preparing to gather evidence from a range of sources, including conducting interviews, retrieving all available recorded data and any CCTV footage, and gathering information and documentation relating to weather, aircraft maintenance, operator procedures and pilots.
“The ATSB is appealing for anyone who saw the aircraft at any stage of flight or has photographs or video footage of it (but not of the post-impact fire) or heard the helicopter prior to impact to come forward.” The spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that a further update was expected later in the afternoon.
– With NCA Newswire
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