Shocking revelation about pilot killed in Cairns helicopter crash
Nautilus Aviation, the company which owned the helicopter, has revealed the circumstances leading up to the crash at the Double Tree Hotel.
The helicopter pilot who was killed when he crashed the aircraft into a Cairns hotel during an "unauthorised" flight on Monday morning, sparking a ball of flames, has been confirmed to be a member of staff of Nautilus Aviation at the time of his death.
The individual was enjoying a social gathering with co-workers before the incident occurred, where he was being farewelled after being promoted to a ground crew position at another Nautilus Aviation base.
"Although the employee held a New Zealand CPL(H) pilot’s licence, they have never flown in Australia or for Nautilus Aviation and were not authorised to fly Nautilus Aviation helicopters," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Nautilus helicopter was reportedly stolen from Cairns Airport with the airline’s chief executive officer Aaron Finn telling The Australian the helicopter was taken from a hangar early on Monday morning before crashing into the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in Cairns, in Queensland's north at 1.50am.
The pilot, and single occupant, was declared dead at the scene and until now, circumstances that led to the theft, or how the pilot gained access, were mostly unknown.
In its statement Nautilus Aviation confirmed the pilot that was killed was a current employee in a ground crew position, joining approximately four months ago.
Employee gathering was a 'private send-off'
Nautilus Aviation did not identify the employee, but did address reports of the gathering of some employees, including off-duty pilots, on Sunday night.
"We can confirm this event did occur and was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning’s incident. This was not a work event and was coordinated by friends."
Helicopter 'going incredibly fast' before crashing into hotel
The chopper had been flying at a high speed and low to the ground in the moments before the tragedy, The Australian reported. Queensland Fire Gold Coast zone commander Greg Tomlinson said it was “pure luck” no one else was injured in the incident.
A bystander Veronica Knight said the helicopter was going incredibly fast before it crashed into the hotel. "It seemed to come from the pier over there and straight down over the sea, straight, and it was going really, really fast. I thought, ‘wow, that doesn’t look right’," she told Sunrise.
"It was pretty low, so I got … I was trying to video it, but it went too fast. And then it disappeared for about five to 10 minutes. Then I got a shock, it came back again. It was coming back along the sea again. And The Esplanade, and then all of a sudden it suddenly veered to the right.
"I just saw a big explosion and, like, huge fire and I thought, yeah, it’s just hit straight into the motel."
with NCA Newswire
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