Cairns hotel helicopter crash: Major twist after pilot killed By Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia Published: 00:27, 12 August 2024 | Updated: 00:43, 12 August 2024 e-mail View comments A helicopter pilot has been killed after his aircraft crashed into a luxury Cairns hotel and injured two guests with hundreds forced to evacuate the burning building. Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in the Far North Queensland city at 1.50am on Monday.
Queensland Ambulance confirmed a helicopter 'crashed into the roof of a hotel' with between 300 to 400 people evacuated from the premises. 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. It is believed the helicopter was part of the fleet of Nautilus Aviation, one of Australia’s premier helicopter operators Sources said that the helicopter may have been 'stolen', as none of the accredited pilots working for Nautilus Aviation were flying the aircraft.
'All the pilots have been accounted for,' the source told Daily Mail Australia. Nautilus Aviation told the Courier Mail it was an 'unauthorised' flight. The helicopter crashed into the roof of the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in Cairns, and sparked a massive inferno (pictured) About 300 to 400 people were evacuated from the hotel.
Others stood in a park nearby and watched on in disbelief as the blaze tore through the building Veronica, who witnessed the crash, told 2GB they watched the aircraft fly 'full force' into the building. 'The next thing I knew I saw it fly towards the hotel building and I saw the big explosion ..
. it hit the building,' she said. Terrifying footage captured by a tourist showed the roof engulfed by massive red and orange flames.
Huge clouds of black smoked billowed out from the top of the hotel as the blaze raged. 'The whole building is on fire,' one woman was heard saying as flames were seen inside the bottom floor of the hotel. 'Did you see it? The helicopter.
.. it's just crazy.
I was just walking along there...
I saw it going down,' she continued. Bystanders also stood in a nearby park and watched as the flames burned through the hotel. An 83-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman were taken to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition after they were assessed by paramedics.
Queensland Police declared a Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) and an exclusion zone was enacted encompassing Esplanade, Minnie Street, Aplin Street and Grafton Street. Queensland Ambulance Service Far Northern Region senior operations supervisor Caitlin Dennings said residents described hearing a crash that sounded like a bomb. Queensland Police declared a Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) and an exclusion zone was enacted encompassing Esplanade, Minnie Street, Aplin Street and Grafton Street (pictured, a damaged room at the hotel) Debris from the helicopter that crashed into the luxury hotel in the early hours of Monday morning 'Unfortunately it is quite frightening to hear.
I suppose that noise of helicopter crashing prior to 2am in the morning,' she said. 'There's reports that it sounded like a bomb and seeing fire and smoke from that. A lot of the occupants of the hotel were very unsure about the situation at the time.
'There is a lot of unease here at the evacuation centre which is a hotel down.' Hotel guest Alastair Salmon told the ABC the sound of the crash as deafening while his roommate Harry Holberton said debris was strewn across the vicinity. 'All over the hotel there was debris, parts of a windscreen,' he said.
Ms Dennings added paramedics had to wait for firefighters to assess the building before they could enter the hotel and view the helicopter. 'The helicopter impacted the roof of the hotel however two propellors have dislodged from the helicopter landing on the Cairns esplanade,' she said. 'There was a second propellor located in the hotel pool on the bottom floor.
'At the time of the incident [hotel guests] were evacuated to Florence Street where buses have picked them up and taken them to a hotel in cairns city where they have all been evacuated to the foyer.' Police are at the scene and have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has also launched an investigation.
The helicopter impacted the roof of the hotel and two of its propellors dislodged on impact Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash An exclusion zone was enacted encompassing Esplanade, Minnie Street, Aplin Street and Grafton Street (pictured) Share or comment on this article: Cairns hotel helicopter crash: Major twist after pilot killed e-mail Add comment.
