Officials identify helicopter pilot who crashed into Australian hotel

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Officials identified the person who crashed into the Cairns Hotel roof in Australia on Monday as a member of the aircraft's ground crew.

Nautilus Aviation CEO Aaron Finn said on Tuesday that Blake Wilson, 23, who died in the crash, had a pilot's license but the New Zealander had never flown in Australia. Wilson did not have the authority to fly the helicopter and had gained unauthorized access to the hangar at the time.

Finn said a social event was individually put together by workers on Sunday night to recognize Wilson, who had received a promotion.

"This was a privately organized send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning's incident, who was actually promoted to a ground crew position at another one of our bases," Finn said.

The circumstances that led to Wilson taking the helicopter and the incident as a whole remained under investigation on Tuesday.

"We will continue to work very closely with the [Queensland Police] and the [Australian Transportation Safety Bureau] as they investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident."

A helicopter from Nautilus crashed on the roof of the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Cairnes at 1:54 a.m., local time, on Monday. The pilot, identified as Wilson, died at the scene.

A small fire was started as a result of the crash and the hotel was evacuated as a precaution. Authorities said that no one else was injured in the incident.