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A helicopter pilot was killed and others have been injured early Monday after the pilot crashed a helicopter onto the roof of an Australian lodge throughout an unauthorized flight, authorities mentioned.
The New Zealand Herald recognized the pilot as 23-year-old Blake Wilson of New Zealand.
The aviation firm Nautilus Aviation confirmed to information shops that Wilson was considered one of its staff however had not flown in Australia earlier than.
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A damaged window hangs precariously on the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Cairns, Australia, after a helicopter crashed into its roof early Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (Brian Cassey/AAP Image through AP)
The firm mentioned he was a member of its floor crew and held a helicopter pilot’s license in New Zealand however was not licensed to fly the corporate’s helicopters in Australia.
The man had labored at Nautilus Aviation for 4 months and had not too long ago been promoted to a floor crew job at one other of the corporate’s bases, Nautilus Aviation mentioned. Before the crash, the person had attended a social occasion with colleagues to mark his departure for the brand new place, the corporate mentioned.
The flight was unauthorized and the helicopter “misappropriated,” the corporate added.
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The crash early Monday morning prompted the evacuation of a whole lot of individuals from the constructing as flames engulfed the plane.
A pair staying on the lodge was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and the 2 have since been discharged, Queensland Police Service Acting Chief Superintendent Shane Holmes informed reporters. No one else on the bottom was damage.
Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker mentioned preliminary findings of a overview Monday confirmed “no compromise of the airport security program or processes.”
Witness Veronica Knight walks previous a chunk of helicopter wreckage in Cairns, Australia, after the crash of the plane Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (Brian Cassey/AAP Image through AP)
The airport operated beneath “a federally approved, multi-layered transport security program,” Barker mentioned.
The crash occurred in a busy vacationer district of Cairns, a tropical metropolis of 150,000 individuals in far north Queensland, the place it’s peak season for holidaymakers.
Witnesses informed native information shops the crash appeared like a bomb exploding.
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Smoke billowed and flames rose from the roof of the DoubleTree Hilton, and one of many helicopter’s rotor blades landed within the lodge pool, the Australian broadcaster ABC reported.
The lodge stays cordoned off whereas its structural integrity is being examined.
Fox News Digital has contacted Nautilus Aviation and Queensland police for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
