An Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation has found that a pilot who died after he crashed a helicopter into the roof of a Hilton hotel in Australia’s far north Queensland was heavily intoxicated at the time.
Safety investigators said Blake Wilson, 23, had been celebrating his farewell party at various venues in the tropical city of Cairns on Aug. 12 before starting a different job with his employer Nautilus Aviation.
After going home at 11 p.m., he drove to Cairns Airport, where he accessed a Robinson R44 helicopter and left the airspace after 1:30 a.m.
An air traffic controller had heard unusual static but did not see any scheduled flight plans when he checked.
The flight—which he took over the city and his apartment—would last less than 20 minutes before the fatal crash that took his life.
Multiple CCTV cameras captured the brief final moments of the flight, which showed the helicopter “pitched up” before crashing down onto the roof of the seven-story DoubleTree by Hilton around 2 a.m.
Wilson was a fully qualified pilot with commercial licences for Australia and New Zealand, but he was not permitted to fly for Nautilus because he had been hired as ground staff.
Australian Transport Bureau Safety Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the investigation had found Wilson conducted an “unauthorised and unnecessary flight at night, while affected by alcohol.”
No drugs were detected in his system.
“The pilot did not hold the appropriate endorsements to fly at night, did not have any experience flying the R44 at night, and they conducted the flight well below the 1,000 feet minimum height for flight over built-up areas,” he told reporters.
Wilson had flown the helicopter at 500 feet above the city.
The crash resulted in parts of the helicopter being found in other hotel rooms, with more debris on the street below.
It also caused a fire on the roof that prompted the evacuation of 400 guests.
Two people were treated for smoke inhalation.
“The flight was a purposeful act but there was no evidence available to explain the pilot’s intentions,” Mitchell said.
Wilson, who had 157 hours of flying experience, 16 of which were on the R44, had taken “significant measures” to conceal his fatal flight, investigators said.
He was not authorised to fly the helicopter, had not flown at night, and had a new role in driving a fuel truck.
No safety recommendations were made because the incident did not involve mechanical failure or any cause other than the pilot’s actions.
“While it was tragic that the young man lost his life, there was a significant risk to others here in the Cairns area, which is why we have put resources to find out what we can, look at all the available evidence,” Mitchell said.
“It is fair to say that this is quite an exceptional set of circumstances for the ATSB to be investigating.”
Cairns is a popular tourist destination 1,393 kilometres (865 miles) north of Queensland’s capital, Brisbane.
