The helicopter pilot who flew a stolen aircraft into a seaside hotel had been “put to bed” after a night of drinking before setting off on his fatal flight.
Blake Wilson, 23, was at the controls of an R44 Robinson helicopter when it crashed into the roof of the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns at around 1:50 a.m. on Monday.
The helicopter was seen flying over the city’s central business district for at least five minutes before crashing into the roof of a hotel and shattering the windows of surrounding rooms.
Two guests, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
Nautilus Aviation, which employed the pilot as ground crew, said he gained unauthorized access to a helicopter in its hangar after attending an unofficial farewell event.
According to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Wilson was “drunk” at the banquet and had to be put to bed.
Mr Wilson, originally from Palmerston North on New Zealand’s North Island, obtained his private pilot’s licence in April 2022 from Christchurch Helicopters, whose pilots and instructors include New Zealand’s most famous All Blacks rugby player, Richie McCaw.
Christchurch Helicopters said in a statement that although Mr Wilson holds a New Zealand pilot’s licence, he has never flown in Australia and is not authorised to operate a Nautilus Aviation helicopter.
“Blake completed his Diploma in Aviation with Christchurch Helicopters in 2022,” the statement said.
Cairns hotel crash pilot Blake Wilson celebrates with friends in New Zealand before heading to Australia for his “new adventure”. It ended in tragedy when he stole a helicopter after a night of drinking
Nautilus helicopter in the hangar where Blake Wilson stole an R44 Robinson aircraft early Monday morning and flew it for four minutes before crashing into the Double Tree
“He was very popular with the staff and his classmates.”
“The Christchurch Helicopters team will miss him and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”
On Wilson’s Instagram page, he stands proudly next to a helicopter at Christchurch Helicopter headquarters in September 2022, declaring that he is “officially a commercial helicopter pilot.”
He moved to Cairns with his girlfriend in March this year and interviewed with several different helicopter charter companies before landing the job at Nautilus Aviation, which operates from seven bases across northern Australia.
In April, he posted a photo of the Cairns Esplanade. In the middle of the picture you can clearly see the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, which he crashed into this week.
Alongside the photo he wrote: “New home in Far North Queensland. Excited to see what this adventure brings #itsdamnhereagain”.
A fire breaks out on the roof of the hotel in Cairns (left) after Blake Wilson crashed his helicopter onto the roof. Rugby legend Richie McCaw (right) is one of the pilots at Christchurch Helicopters, where Blake Wilson was trained in New Zealand.
The Cairns Double Tree Hilton (circled) was in the center of a photo Blake posted on Instagram, writing, “I’m excited to see what this adventure brings.”
A week later, he posted a photo of himself with six friends at nearby Gilligan’s Bar in Cairns.
He worked at the company’s headquarters in Cairns for more than four months before being promoted to work as a fuel attendant for Nautilus on Horn Island above Australia’s Top End on Monday.
Colleagues from the company hosted a farewell dinner and drinks reception for Wilson on Sunday evening, just hours before he took his fatal flight.
A witness told the media that Mr Wilson was “drunk” at the banquet and had to be put to bed.
It is believed that at some point later that night he left his room, got behind the wheel of a Nautilus vehicle and drove to the company headquarters at Cairns Airport.
Blake Wilson enjoys an evening after moving to Cairns
Fatal flight path of New Zealander Blake Wilson, who stole an R44 Robinson helicopter from Cairns Airport and crashed it into the Cairns Double Tree Hotel four minutes later
Questions have now been raised about airport security and how he was able to gain access to the helicopter so late at night.
“The security measures at this airport are the same as most, if not all, general aviation airports in Australia, so I think it is probably well worth a review,” said aviation expert Peter Carter.
“It’s an inside job, so it’s very difficult to put safeguards in place to prevent something like this from happening.”
“The company might consider different levels of access depending on the employee’s seniority… it should make its own decisions regarding security precautions, in my opinion.”
Cairns Airport said an initial inspection showed that access to the site had not been compromised.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the disturbing incident on the Cairns Esplanade,” CEO Richard Barker said in a statement.
“Cairns Airport operates under a government-approved, multi-layered transport security program.”
“To reassure our community, we would like to confirm that an inspection has been carried out which has found no impact on our airport fence or access points.”
