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Wannabe pilot who ‘stole’ helicopter before fatal crash into Hilton had been at ‘boozy leaving drinks before joyride’
Shocking footage shows the man taking the aircraft before its fatal flight
THE wannabe pilot who allegedly stole a helicopter and fatally crashed it into a Hilton had been at a boozy leaving drinks party before his death.
Blake Wilson, in his mid-20s, was flying a Robinson 44 chopper when it crashed into the roof of the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns, Far North Queensland.
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The New Zealander began his allegedly unauthorised four-minute trip shortly after 1.45am on Monday when he took off from the Nautilus hangar at Cairns Airport.
Mr Wilson reportedly flew multiple laps across the mudflats and above the city's Esplanade, which is a no-fly zone.
The aircraft was reportedly flying dangerously low when it crashed into the hotel roof and caught fire, according to witnesses.
Mr Wilson joined Nautilus Aviation earlier in April and was just promoted to a refueller position on Horn Island, which is above Australia's Top End.
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He was meant to begin his new job on Monday.
A farewell dinner was thrown for him by Nautilus colleagues on Sunday night, a few hours before he took out on his tragic journey, the Daily Mail reports.
In a statement made public on Tuesday afternoon, Nautilus Aviation stated that the dinner was "not a work event and was coordinated by friends."
The company added: "We can confirm this event did occur and was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning's incident, who was recently promoted to a ground crew position at another one of our bases."
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The CEO of Nautilus, Aaron Finn, said the crash was "very unfortunate" and suggested that investigators were not treating it as intentional.
Mr Finn said: "We had no concerns about his well-being or mental state; he was an excellent employee."
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The pilot was "a current employee in a ground crew position, joining approximately four months ago," according to Nautilus Aviation.
The statement further stated: "Even though the employee had a New Zealand CPL(H) pilot's licence, they had never flown for Nautilus Aviation or in Australia and were not authorised to fly Nautilus Aviation helicopters."
The young pilot is from Palmerston North, on the North Island of New Zealand.
In April 2022, Mr Wilson obtained his private pilot's certificate from Christchurch Helicopters.
The crash at the Double Tree Hotel happened at around 1.50am Monday local time.
Witnesses said that the helicopter was flying fast and low to the ground, just taking four minutes to before it crashed.
Around 400 guests and workers had to be evacuated from the hotel in the early hours of Monday due to the crash, leaving an inferno blazing on top of the building.
Two of the helicopter's rotor blades were dislodged, and debris from the collision was discovered up to 80 meters away.
One of the blades was discovered in the ground floor hotel pool, and the other fell out on the Cairns Esplanade across from the hotel.
Two elderly guests were taken to hospital in a stable condition from smoke inhilation.
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The hotel told The Sun there is no landing pad on the roof and they were finding alternative accommodation for the guests.
The helicopter had been moved out of a hanger early in the morning, with police now probing how it was taken.
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