SYDNEY - An amateur pilot had been celebrating with colleagues before he "misappropriated" a helicopter and fatally crashed into the roof of an Australian hotel, his employer said Tuesday.
Hundreds of patrons were evacuated from the DoubleTree by Hilton in the tropical tourist hub of Cairns on Monday morning after the twin-engine helicopter crashed, igniting a fiery explosion on the hotel roof.
The pilot was killed in the accident, while two patrons staying in the hotel were treated for minor injuries.
The helicopter belonged to luxury charter company Nautilus Aviation, which said it had employed the man in a "ground crew position".
Nautilus Aviation said the man "gained unauthorised access to our helicopter hangar and misappropriated one of our helicopters".
Hours before the crash, the man had been celebrating at a private send-off before moving to take up another position within the company, Nautilus Aviation said.
Although the pilot was licensed to fly helicopters in New Zealand, he had never flown before in Australia.
Mangled pieces of the helicopter's propeller landed in the hotel's pool, while images showed a bright plume of fire blazing on the hotel's roof.
"They just flew into that building," a female voice says in a video shared on social media that captured the aftermath.
"Madness, man," she adds as sirens blare in the background.
"Shivers. People were living in that. It smashed right in."
Cairns is a popular tourist hub that offers a gateway to Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef.
A team of government experts from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau have been dispatched to the crash site. - AFP