The pilot of a helicopter that crashed into a Cairns hotel causing a fatal explosion has been identified as Blake Wilson.
Mr Wilson, 23, had been celebrating a farewell party with co-workers just hours before the horror incident.
Up to 400 people were evacuated from the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton about 1.50am on Monday after a R44 Robinson helicopter, which had been in the air for just four minutes, plummeted into the roof of the hotel.
The chopper had been flying at a high speed and low to the ground in the moments before the tragedy, The Australian reported.
In an updated statement on Tuesday night, police said initial investigations suggested Mr Wilson, from Smithfield, was the sole occupant of the helicopter at the time of the crash.
Nautilus Aviation, the company that owned the helicopter, confirmed the pilot had worked for them as a ground crew member for about four months and had been celebrating one final day with colleagues before moving to another air base.
“We would like to address rumours regarding a gathering of some Nautilus Aviation employees, including off-duty pilots, on Sunday night,” the company stated.
“We can confirm this event did occur and 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.
“This was not a work event and was co-ordinated by friends.”
The company did not identify the pilot, but did reveal they held a New Zealand pilot’s licence.
“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,” company statement read.
“We will be leaving the release of the individual’s details to QPS.”
Nautilus Aviation said it had completed fully transparent interviews with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and QPS.
“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 read.
“We ask that the media respect the privacy of our employees during this time.
“We will continue to work very closely with QPS and the ATSB as they investigate the circ*mstances surrounding the incident.”
Queensland Fire Gold Coast zone commander Greg Tomlinson said earlier on Tuesday it was “pure luck” no one else was injured in the incident.
Cairns airport chief executive Richard Baker confirmed a review was conducted following the incident.
“Cairns airport operates under a federally approved, multi-layered transport security program,” Mr Baker said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
“To reassure our community, we wish to confirm a review has been conducted, showing no compromise of our airport fence or access points.
“To allow investigators to do their vital work, we will not provide further comment at this time.”
Mr Baker added his thoughts were with those affected by the incident, including the loved ones of the pilot and those at charter company Nautilus Aviation, which owned the helicopter, and the airport.
Queensland Police Service Acting Chief Superintendent Shane Holmes was repeatedly asked on Monday if he knew the motivation of the pilot but declined to give a conclusive answer.
When asked if it looked like a deliberate act or an accident, Superintendent Holmes simply said it was “unknown at this stage” but believed it was an “isolated incident”.
A helicopter crashed into the roof of a DoubleTree hotel in Cairns City, QLD
Nautilus Aviation confirmed in a statement on Monday that the flight was “unauthorised”, and told The Australian that all staff were accounted for and had been given the day off following the incident.
“Nautilus Aviation are working closely with the Queensland Police Service, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and other authorities as they investigate the unauthorised use of one of our helicopters in the early hours of this morning,” the statement said.
“As we continue to fully support the ongoing investigation, we will not be making further comments at this time.”
An investigation is under way, with Superintendent Tomlinson saying authorities want to understand what the helicopter was “doing at the time”, and “any nature of the flight”.
“And that’s going to be the focus of our investigation. After that time, we’ll be looking to release a preliminary report, and that could be as early as a couple of weeks’ time, once we get a sequence of events understood far better,” he said on Monday.
‘That doesn’t look right’
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 on Monday morning.
“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.”
Paramedics were called to the scene just after 2am and assessed a male patient with life threatening injuries.
Another male in his 80s and a woman in her 70s were treated and taken to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition.
Superintendent Tomlinson said it’s believed the people staying in the affected room were asleep when the helicopter crashed and exploded into flames.
“I do believe that they were asleep at the time, and there were some windows that may have been impacted as a result of the incident occurring, but I’m not quite sure the extent of their injuries,” he said.
“But I am advised that they are OK.”
An exclusion zone was set up on Monday to include The Esplanade and Minnie, Abbott and Florence streets.
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