Cairns helicopter crash at DoubleTree by Hilton: Witnesses detail terror
A guest at the Hilton hotel spoke of the moment she saw a chopper with no lights heading towards her room window, while a couple whose room caught on fire after a blade crashed through have described their terror.
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A guest at DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns told fellow visitors of the moment she saw a helicopter with no lights heading towards her window, while a couple whose room caught on fire after a propeller crashed through, spoke of the wild incident.
Witnesses to the “unauthorised” fatal helicopter crash at DoubleTree by Hilton shared their varying accounts from hearing explosions to panicked and dead-end evacuations as sleep-deprived guests made urgent adjustments to their holidays.
Hilton Cairns on the Esplanade was a busy hub on Monday morning with gritty-eyed guests and their luggage seeking refuge at the sister hotel to DoubleTree by Hilton.
Hilton Cairns duty manager Alvin Kwok said extra staff had been called in to assist the additional visitors.
“We don’t really know what’s going on over there (at DoubleTree) but we’ve got extra staff in all departments to do our best to keep it as business as usual,” Mr Kwok said.
“Because we’re a sister hotel, we can serve breakfast for all the guests that came over. Our guests seem to be understanding of all the extra people.”
Asked what the hotel’s plans were for its new DoubleTree refugees and whether they would be offered rooms, Mr Kwok said the hotel was “still working that out.”
However, one hotel staff member could be heard telling a guest due to the situation, the hotel was requiring guests to source their own accommodation.
‘Panic and confusion’: Evacuees describe hotel evacuation
Among the evacuees making travel adjustments while camped in the foyer were Hunter Valley friends on their annual holiday – Karen Stulz and Belinda Simm, with the pair initially thinking they had woken to a “truck explosion” on the street.
“I looked out the window and couldn’t see anything and went to lie back down, next minute the fire alarms went off,” Ms Stulz said.
“Initially (in the hallways) a lot of people were just out looking and then once you saw the fire – you realised it wasn’t a rehearsal, you had to get out.
“There was some panic and confusion – there were some people taking the elevators and I said ‘you can’t do the elevator, we have to go to the stairs, down the fire escape’.”
Once outside, Ms Simm said there was further confusion as they had exited via the pool and into a neighbouring hotel, before being directed by police towards an evacuation point.
“They had started to mark off the room numbers, but it seemed a bit pointless because half the people were in another area, until police brought them over.”
She said from the outside, the sirens of emergency services, smoke and a smell were apparent, but knowledge of the helicopter crash didn’t become available until a couple they spoke with said a blade had crashed through their window.
“They told us they woke up and their window frame had caught on fire and there was just glass everywhere.
“The lady tried to put her shoes on to get out but there was glass in them, so she didn’t have any shoes; somebody else gave her a pair. The gentleman was quite shaken up, as you would be.”
Ms Stulz and Ms Simm said a tour bus was then offering a service between the evacuated hotel and the sister hotel, but a lot of guests chose to walk over.
Later in the morning, guests who had flights for early Monday were given priority to return to the affected hotel to collect their luggage, and by 9am most had their possessions returned.
‘None of its lights on’: Guest thought chopper headed for her room
Among the guests who chose to walk from DoubleTree Hilton to Hilton Cairns was Graham Emmett, visiting Cairns from Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Mr Emmett said he was staying in room 706 and he understood the chopper crashed into 716.
“I couldn’t see the helicopter, but I could look out from my room and see the flames,” he said.
“It made a terrific noise and then the alarms went off and I thought it was my radio. I was trying to turn my radio off and nothing was happening.
“That’s when I opened the door and there was people running everywhere in a panic.”
Mr Emmett said once outside he spoke to a woman who happened to be awake at the time of the crash.
“She told me she was watching and could see the helicopter coming right for her room. She said it had none of its lights on and she thought it was going to crash into her room.”
Mr Emmett said he too was unable to secure a room at the sister hotel and camped in the foyer for the remainder of the night.
Hotel roll call took ‘number of hours’
Tony Topp flew to Cairns from Melbourne for a relaxed long-weekend, to meet up with his children who were travelling around the east coast of Australia.
Mr Topp said he and his wife were asleep when they heard a “loud bang” about 1.45am on Monday.
“My wife woke to a bang, she thought maybe it was a car or something,” he said.
The couple then prepared to evacuate from the hotel, after an emergency alarm was sounded.
“There was a mixture of people coming out of the hotel, people in pyjamas, others with suitcases. We walked out and were told to meet on Abbott Street, after the Esplanade was closed off by police,” Mr Topp said.
Mr Topp said it took a number of hours before the hotel was able to organise a roll-call of guests from the evacuated rooms.
“Nothing was really told to us till about 5.30am, when we were told we could head back to the hotel and pack up our belongings, but we would have to vacate the hotel,” he said.
“I thought perhaps an airconditioning unit had blown up on the roof, is all.”
The Topp family chose to relocate themselves for the night, instead of waiting for the Hilton to find a suitable room for them to move to.
“We decided to sort it out ourselves, the hotel was good about it but there were a lot of people who needed a room,” he said.
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