A man who stole a helicopter was in the air for just four minutes before he crashed into a waterfront hotel, injuring two guests and forcing hundreds to evacuate the burning building.
Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in the Far North Queensland city of Cairns at 1.50am on Monday.
Queensland Ambulance confirmed a helicopter ‘crashed into the roof of a hotel’ and nearly 400 people were evacuated from the building.
The pilot, a man aged in his 40s, was killed while two people who were staying in one of the rooms were rushed to hospital to be treated 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, sparking a massive blaze
Part of the helicopter’s rotor blade landed in parkland on the opposite side of the Esplanade (pictured)
The man is believed to have been an employee of Nautilus Aviation – a private charter company which operates from seven bases across Northern Australia including Cairns, The Australian reported.
The Nautilus helicopter, a Robinson 44, was taken from the general aviation wing at the airport at 1.48am and flown to the CBD across Cairns Esplanade – a no-fly zone.
It was in the air for just four minutes, with witnesses reporting seeing the helicopter flying at a high speed and low to the ground, before it crashed into the hotel’s roof.
Nautilus Aviation chief executive Aaron Finn confirmed the helicopter was ‘stolen’ and that the flight was unauthorised and unplanned.
Mr Finn added his company’s pilots were accounted for and safe, however, he could not rule out the possibility 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.
Head of Aviation at CQUniversity Doug Drury said the man might have accessed the helicopter hanger by using a code or by climbing over the fence.
Mr Drury explained most aviation companies use keypads with codes to block access to their aircrafts and the airside section of the airport.
‘I’ve used them in airports all over the world but it’s a common code and if you’ve ever worked at this location, then you would know where to go and how to get in,’ Mr Drury told ABC News.
‘They do change the codes and I imagine every facility at Cairns Airport now has a new code in their door and in their gate locks.
‘They’ll go through footage from all the security cameras to see how this person got in and how they were able to start the aircraft.’.
Mr Drury added the helicopter crash would force national and international airports to reassess airside access and security.
More to come…