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The helicopter pilot who crashed a stolen plane right into a waterfront lodge was affected by alcohol, an investigation has discovered.
New Zealander Blake Wilson, 23, 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 August 12.
The ‘unauthorised’, four-minute journey took off from the Nautilus hangar at Cairns Airport shortly after 1.45am, finishing a number of circuits throughout the mudflats and over the town’s Esplanade, which is a no-fly zone.
Witnesses reported seeing the plane flying dangerously low earlier than it smashed into the lodge roof and burst into flames.
A report by the Australian Transport Security Bureau, revealed on Thursday morning discovered that Wilson had a ‘vital blood alcohol content material’ on the time of the crash.
Each day Mail Australia beforehand revealed that Wilson had a boozy farewell dinner with colleagues at Nautilus Aviation as a result of he was resulting from start a job as a refueller on Horn Island.
‘Previous to the accident, on the night of 11 August, the pilot had been socialising with pals at numerous venues in Cairns,’ the ATSB report acknowledged.
‘Witnesses reported and video recordings confirmed that the pilot had been consuming alcohol and that they returned to their house round 2300.’
Each day Mail Australia beforehand revealed New Zealander Blake Wilson (pictured), 23, 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 August 12
The ‘unauthorised’, four-minute journey took off from the Nautilus hangar at Cairns Airport shortly after 1.45am, finishing a number of circuits throughout the mudflats and over the town’s Esplanade, which is a no-fly zone (pictured: the flight path)
CCTV footage later recorded Wilson driving away from his house shortly after 1am in an organization automobile.
Twenty minutes later he arrived on the Nautilus Aviation hangar at Cairns airport the place he used floor wheels to maneuver a Robinson-44 helicopter onto the helipad.
He took off a short while later, flying in the direction of Cairns metropolis centre, adjusting his path barely to fly over his shared house.
He then carried out a lap of the Cairns wharf advanced earlier than doubling again over his house once more.
The flight altitude by no means exceeded 500ft.
Remarkably, not one of the lodge visitors had been injured (pictured: the injury to one of many rooms on the highest flooring)
‘Two safety cameras recorded very transient parts of the ultimate a part of the flight,’ the ATSB report acknowledged.
‘These present the helicopter pitching up, then virtually instantly descending steeply earlier than colliding into the roof of the lodge at about 1.51am.’
Extra to return.