The person who was killed when the helicopter they were flying worked for Nautilus Aviation, the company that owned the helicopter.
The aircraft left on an “unauthorised” flight from Nautilus Aviation’s hangar at Cairns airport early on Monday morning, crashing into a hotel roof about 2am.
Nautilus Aviation CEO Aaron Finn said on Tuesday that a member of their ground staff “gained unauthorised access to (the) helicopter hangar and misappropriated one of (the) helicopters”.
He said the employee was not authorised to fly and had only joined the company four months ago.
He confirmed speculation that he attended an event to celebrate his promotion on Sunday night.
“This was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning’s incident, who was recently promoted to a ground crew position at another one of our bases,” Finn said.
“This was not a work event and had been coordinated by friends.”
He said the employee held a New Zealand pilot’s license but had never flown in Australia.
Authorities are yet to identify the pilot of the unauthorised flight after the fatal crash in far north Queensland on Monday.
Hundreds of guests were evacuated and two people were hospitalised after the “massive explosion” at the DoubleTree Hotel in Cairns.
Investigators are yet to shed light on the circumstances after the helicopter’s wreckage was removed from the hotel late on Monday.
The helicopter was seen flying for at least five minutes in the Cairns CBD before it crashed into the hotel roof, smashing the windows of nearby rooms with one occupied by a sleeping elderly couple.
The hotel guests, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and have since been released.
In a statement, Nautilus Aviation said it would let police release the person’s identity.
The company said it had completed interviews with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and police, cooperating with “full transparency” about the events.
“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.
Source Agencies
