A man who stole a helicopter was in the air for just four minutes before it crashed into a waterfront hotel, injuring two guests and forcing hundreds of people to evacuate the burning building.
Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in the north Queensland city of Cairns at 1.50am on Monday.
Queensland Ambulance confirmed a helicopter “crashed onto the roof of a hotel” and nearly 400 people had been evacuated from the building.
The pilot, a man in his 40s, was killed, while two people staying in one of the rooms were rushed to hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.
Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in Cairns after a helicopter crashed into the roof of the building, causing a massive fire
Part of the helicopter’s rotor blade landed in a park across the Esplanade (pictured)
The man is believed to have been an employee of Nautilus Aviation, a private charter company that operates from seven bases in northern Australia, including Cairns, The Australian reported.
The Nautilus helicopter, a Robinson 44, was picked up from the airport’s general aviation department at 01:48 and flown to the business district, via Cairns Esplanade – a no-fly zone.
The aircraft remained in the air for only four minutes. Witnesses reported seeing the helicopter flying at high speed and low to the ground before crashing into the roof of the hotel.
Aaron Finn, managing director of Nautilus Aviation, confirmed that the helicopter had been “stolen” and that the flight was unauthorized and unplanned.
Mr Finn added that his company’s pilots were safe and sound at the scene, but he could not rule out that another employee was responsible.
“We have quite a lot of staff in the organisation. We can’t identify (the person responsible) from CCTV footage, it’s very dark,” Mr Finn said.
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