A pilot has died after their helicopter crashed into the roof of a hotel in the northern Queensland city of Cairns.
The aircraft hit the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel at around 01:50am local time on Monday (16:50B Sunday), sparking a fire and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of guests.
Queensland Police confirmed the only occupant of the helicopter died at the scene. The company who charters the helicopter told local media the pilot had been on an “unauthorised” flight.
Two hotel guests – a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s – were taken to hospital in a stable condition, the state’s ambulance service said.
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”.
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).
“There’s been reports it sounded like a bomb, and [that after] seeing smoke and fire from that, a lot of the occupants of the hotel were very unsure about the situation,” QAS senior operations supervisor for the Far Northern Region Caitlin Dennings told media.
Another tourist staying at the hotel, Alastair Salmon, described it to the ABC as “a colossal ear-deafening bang”.
Mr Salmon, from London, said that after being evacuated he initially mistook the helicopter’s rotor blade for a lamppost.
“Then we looked up there and you could see this massive hole in the window of the building,” he told the ABC.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says it is sending investigators to the scene.
And Nautilus Aviation said it would work closely with all authorities in Queensland as they examined the “unauthorised use of one of our helicopters in the early hours of this morning”, according to ABC News.
Streets around the hotel have been cordoned off and an emergency situation was declared by police.
Located in northern Queensland, the city of Cairns is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.
Source Agencies
