A pilot who died after they crashed a stolen helicopter right into a lodge in Australia had attended a celebration with workers members the night time earlier than, their employer has mentioned.
The helicopter belonged to Queensland-based helicopter tour company Nautilus Aviation who mentioned the worker had been celebrating at a personal send-off with colleagues hours earlier than the crash.
Nautilus added that the person was licensed to fly helicopters in New Zealand however had by no means flown in Australia.
The pilot was killed within the accident, whereas two lodge friends have been taken to hospital in a steady situation.
In an announcement to the BBC, Nautilus mentioned the person had lately been promoted to a “floor crew place” at one other of the corporate’s bases.
On Sunday night time, he joined colleagues at a personal send-off, which was additionally attended by off-duty pilots. Nautilus clarified that this was “not a piece occasion and was coordinated by pals”.
Nautilus added that the person later gained “unauthorised entry to our helicopter hangar”.
The helicopter hit the DoubleTree by Hilton lodge within the northern Queensland metropolis of Cairns at round 01:50 native time on Monday (16:50 BST Sunday), sparking a fireplace and forcing the evacuation of about 400 friends.
Authorities say the one occupant of the helicopter died on the scene, and two lodge friends – a person in his 80s and a lady in her 70s – have been taken to hospital in a steady situation.
Amanda Kay, who was staying within the lodge on the primary esplanade in Cairns, described seeing a helicopter flying “further low”, with out lights in wet climate.
“[It] has turned spherical and hit the constructing,” she mentioned, including that the plane “blew up”.
One other bystander mentioned she noticed the helicopter fly previous the lodge twice within the moments earlier than the collision.
“Boy that was going quick, that helicopter. Unbelievable,” a lady mentioned, in video exhibiting the fiery aftermath of the crash.
“It was simply going uncontrolled, that factor was.”
Two of the helicopter’s rotor blades got here off on affect, touchdown on the esplanade and within the lodge pool, in line with Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS).
Nautilus Aviation mentioned in its assertion that it had accomplished interviews with the Australian Transport Security Bureau (ATSB) and the Queensland Police Service (QPS), and had cooperated with full transparency on its disclosure of the occasions main as much as and following the incident.
“We provide our heartfelt condolences to the person’s household and all who’ve been affected by this tragedy and proceed to supply our assist to our workers throughout this very difficult interval,” the assertion mentioned.
“We’ll proceed to work very carefully with QPS and the ATSB as they examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Positioned in northern Queensland, the town of Cairns is a well-liked vacationer vacation spot as a consequence of its proximity to the Nice Barrier Reef.
