Cairns helicopter crash: Blake Wilson identified as pilot behind the flight that crashed

EXCLUSIVE 

The helicopter pilot who crashed a stolen aircraft into a waterfront hotel partied with colleagues at a boozy farewell dinner held in his honour before he embarked on the fatal flight. 

New Zealander Blake Wilson, believed to be in his mid-20s, was piloting a Robinson 44 helicopter when it crashed into the roof the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns, Far North Queensland, at 1.50am on Monday.

The ‘unauthorised’, four-minute journey took off from the Nautilus hangar at Cairns Airport shortly after 1.45am, completing several circuits across the mudflats and over the city’s Esplanade, which is a no-fly zone. 

Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft flying dangerously low before it smashed into the hotel roof and was engulfed in flames.  

Mr Wilson landed a ground crew role with Nautilus Aviation in April this year and had just been promoted to a position as a refueller on Horn Island above Australia’s Top End, which he was due to start on Monday. 

Colleagues at Nautilus held a farewell dinner for Mr Wilson on the Sunday evening, just hours before he embarked on his fatal flight. 

Nautilus Aviation said in a statment released on Tuesday afternoon that the dinner was ‘not a work event and was coordinated by friends’. 

Mr Wilson gained his private pilots licence with Christchurch Helicopters in April 2022, but never worked for Nautilus Aviation as a pilot 

‘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,’ the statement added. 

Aaron Finn, CEO of Nautilus, described the crash as ‘very unfortunate’ and suggested it was not being treated as deliberate by investigators.

‘He was a great employee, we had no concerns about his well being or his mental state,’ Mr Finn said.

Nautilus Aviation said it had completed interviews with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and Queensland Police and had ‘cooperated with full transparency and disclosure of all events leading up to and following the incident on Monday morning’. 

The company added: ‘We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual’s family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period.’

The young pilot is originally from Palmerston North on New Zealand’s North Island.

Mr Wilson gained his private pilots licence with Christchurch Helicopters in April 2022. 

Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in Cairns after a helicopter crashed into the roof of the building, sparking a massive blaze

The man, who s believed to have been an employee of Nautilus Aviation, stole a helicopter from the company’s hangar and flew it for four minutes before crashing into the hotel

The Robinson 44 was only in the air for four minutes before it crashed, with witnesses claiming the chopper was flying at a high speed and low to the ground. 

The crash caused a massive fire on the roof of the hotel and a mass evacuation of up to 400 guests and staff during the early hours of Monday.

An 83-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman were taken to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition after they were assessed by paramedics.

Debris from the helicopter was found up to 80 metres from where it crashed, with two of its rotor blades dislodging.

One of the blades was found in the hotel pool, located on the bottom floor, while the second landed on the Cairns Esplanade opposite the hotel. 

Police have confirmed the pilot was the sole occupant of the helicopter and was declared dead at the scene.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has launched an investigation, which will focus on the sequence of events that led to the crash.