The person who was killed while piloting the helicopter worked for Nautilus Aviation, the company that owns the helicopter.
The plane took off early Monday morning from the Nautilus Aviation hangar at Cairns Airport on an “unauthorized” flight, crashing into the roof of a hotel at around 2am.
Nautilus Aviation said in a statement Tuesday that a member of its ground crew “gained unauthorized access to the helicopter hangar and hijacked one of the helicopters.”
The employee was not allowed to fly and had only joined the company four months ago.
This confirmed speculation that they attended an event to celebrate their promotion on Sunday evening.
“We can confirm that this event occurred and that it was a privately arranged departure for the person involved in the incident on Monday morning, who was recently promoted to a ground crew position in another of our bases.
“It was not a professional event and it was coordinated by friends.”
The statement said the employee held a New Zealand pilot’s license but had never flown in Australia.
Authorities have yet to publicly identify the pilot of the unauthorized flight following Monday’s fatal crash in Far North Queensland.
Hundreds of guests have been evacuated and two people have been hospitalized after the “massive explosion” at the DoubleTree Hotel in Cairns.
Investigators have yet to shed light on the circumstances after the wreckage of the helicopter was removed from the hotel Monday evening.
The helicopter was seen flying for at least five minutes in the Cairns CBD before crashing into the roof of the hotel, smashing the windows of neighboring rooms, including one occupied by a sleeping elderly couple .
The hotel guests, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and have since been released.
Nautilus Aviation said it would allow police to reveal the person’s identity.
The company said it had conducted discussions with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and police, cooperating with “full transparency” over the events.
“We extend our deepest condolences to this individual’s family and all those affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very difficult time.”
