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A pilot has died after their helicopter crashed into the roof of a resort within the northern Queensland metropolis of Cairns.
The plane hit the DoubleTree by Hilton resort at round 01:50am native time on Monday (16:50B Sunday), sparking a hearth and forcing the evacuation of a whole lot of visitors.
Queensland Police confirmed the one occupant of the helicopter died on the scene.
Two resort visitors – a person in his 80s and a girl in her 70s – have been taken to hospital in a steady situation, the state’s ambulance service mentioned.
Amanda Kay, who was staying within the resort on the principle esplanade in Cairns, described seeing a helicopter flying “extra low”, with out lights in wet climate.
“[It] has turned round and hit the building,” she mentioned, including that the plane “blew up”.
Two of the helicopter’s rotor blades got here off on influence, touchdown on the esplanade and within the resort pool, based on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Another vacationer staying on the resort, Alastair Salmon, instructed the ABC he woke as much as “a colossal ear-deafening bang”.
Mr Salmon, from London, mentioned that after being evacuated he initially mistook the helicopter’s rotor blade for a lamppost.
“Then we looked up there and you could see this massive hole in the window of the building,” he instructed the ABC.
Streets across the resort have been cordoned off and an emergency scenario was declared by police.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says it’s sending investigators to the scene.
