Pilot killed as ‘stolen’ helicopter crashes into hotel in Australia

Holidaymakers were evacuated from the burning hotel in Cairns, with some treated for smoke inhalation

A stolen helicopter taken from its hangar for an “unauthorised flight” has crashed into the roof of a hotel in the Australian tourist town of Cairns, killing its pilot.
Hundreds of guests had to be evacuated after one mangled rotor blade fell into the hotel pool and an explosion started a fire on the roof in the early hours of the morning.
Emergency crews were called when the twin-engine helicopter hit the Hilton Double Tree Hotel in the Queensland city at about 2am local time on Monday (4pm GMT on Sunday), Queensland state police said.
Police said the helicopter had been taken for an “unauthorised flight” but did not elaborate further. The pilot, who has yet to be identified and was the only person in the aircraft, was declared dead at the scene.
Amanda Kay, a local resident, said she saw the crash happen from her balcony nearby. “There was a light chopper and it was flying super low, with no clearance lights on,” she told the AFP news agency.
She added: “It was flying so erratically. There was this huge explosion because it had crashed into the building. It was a big bang.”
Images and a video from the scene showed a bright plume of fire on the hotel’s roof.
“They just flew into that building,” a female voice said in one video shared on social media that captured the aftermath. 
“Madness, man,” she added as sirens blared in the background. “Shivers. People were living in that. It smashed right in.”
Caitlin Denning, Queensland Ambulance supervisor, said the aircraft’s propellers had “dislodged”. “One landed on the Cairns Esplanade and there was a second propeller located in the hotel pool on the bottom floor and it was on fire,” she told local media.
“There were reports of it sounding like a bomb, and seeing the fire and smoke, a lot of the occupants of the hotel were unsure of the situation.”
Two hotel guests, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation but later discharged, broadcaster ABC said. 
It added that two of the helicopter’s rotor blades came off, with one landing in the pool. The roof fire was extinguished later in the morning.
Police said a forensic crash unit would investigate the crash with Australia’s transport safety regulator. Helicopter owner Nautilus Aviation said it was co-operating.
Angus Mitchell, of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said flying conditions were tricky at the time of the crash, with poor visibility and possibly rain.
“We want to understand … what the helicopter was doing at the time, and the nature of the flight,” he told reporters.
The bureau appealed for witnesses to come forward if they had “photos or video footage of the aircraft at any phase of the flight” or if they “heard the helicopter prior to impact”.