Helicopter pilot whose helicopter crashed had his own pre-flight party

A pilot who died after crashing a stolen helicopter into a hotel in Australia had attended a party with members of staff the night before, his employer said.

The helicopter belonged to Queensland-based helicopter charter agency Nautilus Aviation, which said the employee had been celebrating a private farewell party 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 stable condition.

In a statement to the BBC, Nautilus said the person had recently been promoted to a “ground crew position” at another of the company’s bases.

On Sunday evening, he joined his colleagues for a private farewell party, also attended by off-duty pilots. Nautilus explained that this was “not a work event and was coordinated by friends.”

Nautilus added that this individual later gained “unauthorized access to our helicopter hangar.”

The helicopter hit the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Cairns, north Queensland, at about 01:50 local time on Monday (16:50 GMT Sunday), starting a fire and forcing about 400 guests to evacuate.

The only person in the helicopter died at the scene, authorities said, and two hotel guests – a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s – were taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Amanda Kay, who was staying at the hotel on Cairns’ main promenade, said she saw a helicopter flying “very low”, without lights, in rainy weather.

“[It] “The plane turned and hit the building,” she added, adding that the plane “exploded.”

Another witness said she saw the helicopter fly over the hotel twice in the moments before the crash.

“The helicopter was going so fast. It’s unbelievable,” a woman said in a video showing the aftermath of the fire.

“It was out of control, this thing was.”

Queensland Ambulance said two of the helicopter’s rotor blades broke apart on impact, landing on the walkway and in the hotel’s swimming pool.

Nautilus Airlines 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 in uncovering the events leading up to and following the accident.

“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual’s family and everyone affected by this tragedy and continue to support our employees during this extremely difficult time,” the statement read.

“We will continue to work closely with Public Safety Queensland and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau as they investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Located in North Queensland, Cairns is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.