Blake Wilson Cairns helicopter fatality: Investigator to release findings into Hilton hotel roof crash

The national transport safety investigator on Thursday will shed light on why a stolen chopper fatally crashed into a Far North Queensland hotel at a popular tourist spot two months ago.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will release the findings from its investigation into why a helicopter, registered VH‑ERH, hit the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel roof – causing a fiery explosion and hundreds of guests to be evacuated – in the early hours of August 12.

Pilot Blake Wilson was killed and the Robinson R44 Raven II – owned by his employer Nautilus Aviation – was destroyed by impact forces and a fire.

A Nautilus spokesperson said Wilson, 23, had been an employee for four months in a ground crew position and that he was not authorised to fly the aircraft, which took off from Cairns airport unnoticed just before 1.50am.

The Nightly previously revealed that real-time tracking of the fatal flight showed the young pilot from New Zealand possibly flew the R44 as low as 62 feet above Cairns Esplanade before crashing into the building.

Exclusively obtained flight-tracking data from government-owned WebTrak showed the helicopter taking off from Cairns Airport at 1.47.36am.

The helicopter was then erratically flown up and down Cairns Esplanade and in loops, at wildly varying altitudes, before stopping at 1.52.07am in a position consistent with the location of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel where it crashed.

The altitude tracker – if accurate – indicated that the aircraft oscillated between heights of 62 feet and 440 feet during the four-and-a-half minute flight, before stopping at an altitude of 125 feet when it slammed into the hotel roof.

Cairns Esplanade is a strict “no-fly zone” and CASA regulations stipulate that helicopters must be operated at altitudes of at least 1000 feet above ground level for built-up areas and 500 feet above ground level everywhere else.

In the aftermath of the crash, Wilson’s family, friends and colleagues were struggling to fathom why he stole the helicopter from his employer’s hangar in the early hours of that Monday morning after a night out drinking.

Nautilus chief executive Aaron Finn expressed bafflement at what motivated his “model employee” to go to the airport at about 1am before taking the helicopter.

Mr Finn revealed that Wilson had been named “employee of the month” just days before he died.

He has told the media that the young ground crewman was a “great employee” who was excited about his future.

“We are all devastated,” he said.

Wilson, a former tour guide in Queenstown, obtained his commercial pilot licence through Christchurch Helicopters in September 2022.

At the time, he had shared his pride in obtaining his commercial pilot licence on social media.

“Big thanks to Christchurch Helicopters for giving me the opportunity and tools to launch into the start of my career,” he posted on Instagram.

“Also my friends, family, and others who have supported me and helped me fulfil this dream. It’s the closure of the first chapter in this adventure, and I look forward to many more.”

Christchurch Helicopters said: “Blake was well-liked by staff and his classmates”.

When he moved to Queensland earlier this year, Wilson shared that he was “excited to see what this adventure brings”.

His final social media post on May 3 featured a photo of a Cairns waterfall captioned: “Gotta go to the places that the crocs can’t get ya. Chasing Waterfalls definitely isn’t a bad way to spend days off.”

Wilson, from Palmerston North in NZ, started working for Nautilus after moving to Australia in March and had been employed by Nautilus in a ground crew position for about four months prior to his death.

“Although the employee held a New Zealand CPL(H) pilot’s licence, they have never flown in Australia or for Nautilus Aviation and were not authorised to fly Nautilus Aviation helicopters,” the company said.

There had been an informal work gathering of some Nautilus Aviation employees, including off-duty pilots, on the night of Sunday, August 11 to farewell Wilson who was relocating to the company’s Horn Island air base.

“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 company said.

“This was not a work event and was coordinated by friends.”

Nautilus said the social gathering had ended at about 8.30pm but Wilson had stayed out as he was not working the next day.

At about 1am, he accessed the Nautilus hangar at Cairns Airport using a pin code shared among staff.

The keys were already in the helicopter, which was standard practice among operators, said Mr Finn.

About 45 minutes later he wheeled VH-ERH out onto the tarmac.

He then flew the chopper over the metropolitan area then out to sea before returning and crashing into the roof of the Hilton DoubleTree Hotel less than five minutes later.

It had been raining at the time and visibility was poor.

Witnesses described seeing the helicopter flying “really low” without lights before hearing a loud bang that looked and sounded like a bomb going off.

Nautilus Aviation – known for tours and private charters, and owned by North Queensland billionaire Chris Morris – was quickly notified of the incident and scrambled to account for all of its employees.

The ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the crash could have been deadlier given the rotor blades of the helicopter smacked into the hotel rooms, one of which had an elderly couple asleep inside.

The couple, whose room was directly below the point of impact, were released from Cairns base hospital on Monday after undergoing treatment for shock and smoke inhalation.

The hotel was nearly full, with almost 400 guests evacuated, and many people were still walking around Cairns at 1am.

As a part of its investigation, the ATSB examined the accident site and the helicopter wreckage; retrieved helicopter instrumentation for the download of recorded data at the ATSB’s Canberra facilities; interviewed the operator and witnesses; and collected CCTV footage and air traffic control surveillance information.

The ATSB conducts “no blame” transport safety investigations to uncover and share safety concerns and lessons and not for the purposes of taking administrative, regulatory or criminal action.

Its investigation was expected to involve the Department of Home Affairs, which oversees airport security.

ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell will address the media in Cairns this morning.

The ATSB will also release a short animation detailing the helicopter’s flight.