A pilot has died after their helicopter crashed into the roof of a hotel in the northern Queensland city of Cairns.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Authorities say the only occupant of the helicopter died at the scene, and two hotel guests – a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s \u2013 were taken to hospital in a stable condition.<\/p>\n
Queensland Police and the aviation safety watchdog are investigating the circumstances of the crash, with the company who charters the helicopter saying it was on an “unauthorised” flight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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.<\/p>\n
“[It] has turned round and hit the building,” she said, adding that the aircraft “blew up”.<\/p>\n
Another bystander said she saw the helicopter fly past the hotel twice in the moments before the collision.<\/p>\n
“Boy that was going fast, that helicopter. Unbelievable,” a woman said, in video showing the fiery aftermath of the crash.<\/p>\n
“It was just going out of control, that thing was.”<\/p>\n
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). <\/p>\n
“There\u2019s 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,” spokeswoman Caitlin Dennings told media. <\/p>\n
Another tourist staying at the hotel, Alastair Salmon, described it to the ABC as “a colossal ear-deafening bang”.<\/p>\n
Mr Salmon, from London, was among about 400 people who were evacuated from the hotel.<\/p>\n
He described seeing the helicopter’s rotor blade on the ground nearby, and mistaking it for a lamppost.<\/p>\n
“Then we looked up there and you could see this massive hole in the window of the building,” he told the ABC.<\/p>\n
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it is sending investigators to the scene.<\/p>\n
In a statement, 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”.<\/p>\n
Streets around the hotel have been cordoned off and an emergency situation was declared by police.<\/p>\n
Located in northern Queensland, the city of Cairns is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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