A helicopter has crashed into the roof of a hotel in the popular northern Australian tourist town of Cairns, killing its pilot and sending debris flying across the grounds.
The crash occured at around 2am on Monday at the Double Tree Hotel, a Hilton chain, in the city of Cairns, a major gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
The twin-engine helicopter collided with the hotel roof, causing a fire to break out and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of guests, said Queensland police in a statement.
Police said forensic investigations were underway to formally identify the pilot. He was declared dead at the scene.
The owner of helicopter, Nautilus Aviation, said the aircraft was on an “unauthorised” flight at the time of the crash, adding that they are working closely with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and other authorities as they investigate the incident.
Two of the helicopter’s rotor blades came off and one landed in the hotel pool, media reports said.
“There were no injuries sustained by people on the ground,” the police statement said.
A forensic crash unit will work with Australia’s transport safety regulator to prepare an accident report, police said.