A pilot who died after they crashed a stolen helicopter into a hotel in Australia had attended a party with staff members the night before, their employer has said.
The helicopter belonged to Queensland-based helicopter tour agency Nautilus Aviation who said the employee had been celebrating at a private send-off with colleagues hours before the crash.
Nautilus added that the individual was licensed to fly helicopters in New Zealand but had never flown in Australia.
The pilot was killed in the accident, while two hotel guests were taken to hospital in a stable condition.
In a statement to the BBC, Nautilus said the individual had recently been promoted to a “ground crew position” at another of the company’s bases.
On Sunday night, he joined colleagues at a private send-off, which was also attended by off-duty pilots. Nautilus clarified that this was “not a work event and was coordinated by friends”.
Nautilus added that the individual later gained “unauthorised access to our helicopter hangar”.
The helicopter hit the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in the northern Queensland city of Cairns at around 01:50 local time on Monday (16:50 BST Sunday), sparking a fire and forcing the evacuation of about 400 guests.
Authorities say the only occupant of the helicopter died at the scene, and two hotel guests – a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s – were taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Amanda Kay, who was staying in the hotel on the main esplanade in Cairns, described seeing a helicopter flying “extra low”, without lights in rainy weather.
“[It] has turned round and hit the building,” she said, adding that the aircraft “blew up”.
Another bystander said she saw the helicopter fly past the hotel twice in the moments before the collision.
“Boy that was going fast, that helicopter. Unbelievable,” a woman said, in video showing the fiery aftermath of the crash.
“It was just going out of control, that thing was.”
Two of the helicopter’s rotor blades came off on impact, landing on the esplanade and in the hotel pool, according to Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS).
Nautilus Aviation said in its statement that it had completed interviews with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Queensland Police Service (QPS), and had cooperated with full transparency on its disclosure of the 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.”
Located in northern Queensland, the city of Cairns is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.
