An allegedly stolen helicopter crashed into the hotel property where I experienced a fire alarm drill earlier this year in Australia — and I obviously had no idea that this incident would happen.
Stolen Helicopter Crashed Into Hotel Where I Experienced Fire Alarm Drill
Emergency services were called to the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cairns hotel property in Queensland at approximately 1:50 in the morning earlier today, Monday, August 12, 2024 following reports that a twin engine helicopter — which was allegedly stolen from Nautilus Aviation at Cairns Airport on an “unauthorized flight” — crashed into the roof, burst into flames, and killed the pilot, who was the only occupant of the helicopter.
The fire after the helicopter crashed on the roof of Double Tree Hotel in Cairns. A friend was staying there. pic.twitter.com/Q5mkJ0BYHc
— Ben Pennings (@BenPennings) August 11, 2024
The identity of the pilot was not yet known at the time this article was written. At least two people reportedly sustained injuries as a result of this incident.
As many as 400 people were evacuated from the hotel property, of which no message has yet been posted at its official Internet web site at the time this article was written. Two of the rotor blades detached from the helicopter and landed both on the esplanade and in the swimming pool of the hotel property. The esplanade is in a “no-fly” zone.
An investigation with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was launched and is currently ongoing.
Final Boarding Call
I normally would not have reported on this incident; but that it happened at the same hotel property where I last experienced a fire alarm drill earlier this year is somewhat eerie — especially as both instances occurred in the wee hours of the morning, as though the fire alarm drill was some sort of premonition of what was to come.
Even stranger is the story itself, of which the helicopter was allegedly stolen before it crashed into the roof of the hotel property…
All photographs ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
