A helicopter crashed into the roof of a beachfront hotel in Cairns, Australia in the early hours of this morning, killing the pilot and a passenger, authorities said.
Guests and staff at the luxury DoubleTree by Hilton hotel were evacuated to the street after a helicopter crashed into the building near the Cairns Esplanade, a popular coastal promenade in the northern Queensland city.
Police cordoned off the area in the busy tourist zone, and charter company Nautilus Aviation said it was cooperating with officials as they investigated the “unauthorized use” of one of the company’s planes, CNN reports.
Witness Veronika Knight, who was visiting Cairns from Sydney, was sitting on the boardwalk talking on the phone when she saw the helicopter flying very low over the water.
Police said in a statement that at 1:50 a.m. they received a report of an accident that caused a fire at the top of the building, and that the hotel was evacuated and no one was injured.
The pilot – and the only passenger in the helicopter – was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said.
