Blake Wilson and Cairns helicopter crash: Everything we know about pilot, final moments

The helicopter crash in Queensland’s Far North shocked the nation. This is everything we know so far.

A helicopter crashed into the roof of a popular Cairns hotel on August 12, sparking a major fire and mass evacuation.

Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton on the corners of Esplanade, Abbott and Florence Street about 1.50am.

This is everything we know so far >>>

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What is the timeline of events?

Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton on the corners of Esplanade, Abbott and Florence Street about 1.50am.

Police confirmed at 9am on Monday the pilot and single occupant of the aircraft was found dead at the scene, and forensic investigations are under way to formally identify him.

The Forensic Crash Unit, working alongside the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, will prepare a report for the Coroner.

In a statement, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it was investigating the cause of the crash.

Nautilus Aviation – known for their tours and private charters – confirmed it was an unauthorised flight that occurred.

No flight plan was created. The helicopter which crashed was a Robinson R44 – a four-seat light helicopter.

Nautilus Aviation CEO Aaron Finn told The Australian the chopper was taken from Cairns Airport in the early hours.

A large crowd gathers to watch a crane remove the wreckage of a Robinson R44 helicopter off the rooftop of the Double Tree Hilton hotel onto the Cairns Esplanade below. Picture: Brendan Radke

Queensland Police Service Acting Chief Superintendent Shane Holmes said every line of enquiry was being conducted to establish how the helicopter was taken.

Late on Monday the helicopter was lifted off the hotel in a major operation.

A crane deployed by Cairns firm Crossy’s Crane Hire moved onto the Esplanade in front of the hotel about 4pm, and began stabilisation about 4.30pm.

By 5.30pm it had begun lifting a large industrial-sized skip bin measuring about 15m in length next to the pool retrieving some debris, before the bin was moved to the roof of the hotel, and the body of the chopper was placed into it about 5.50pm. It was then lowered onto an awaiting truck about 6.20pm.

Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer Richard Barker defended the security measures at Cairns Airport.

In October 2024 an investigation revealed that the Cairns man who crashed the helicopter, Blake Wilson, was affected by alcohol after drinking on a night out with mates before the fatal flight.

Prior to the flight, Mr Wilson had been socialising with friends at various venues in Cairns, where he had been drinking alcohol, according to the report.

He returned to his apartment about 11pm, with CCTV footage showing him driving away from the unit complex at 1.09am.

CCTV footage from the hangar then shows Mr Wilson moving the helicopter outside onto a helipad just after 1.30am.

What did Nautilus Aviation say?

The boss of Nautilus Aviation in the days after the crash detailed the final movements.

Blake Wilson had been awarded employee of the month and had earned a promotion to a new role, the company’s chief executive Aaron Finn said.

The last time Mr Finn spoke with the 23-year-old was “Thursday or Friday” and he said it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

“It was just a general chat in the hangar,” Mr Finn said.

“As you walk past quite often you just say a quick ‘good morning what do you have on for today?’

“He was in a good place.”

Mr Finn said Mr Wilson’s role at the company as a ground handler included duties of refuelling aircraft, moving helicopters, and briefing passengers, as well as other general duties.

Who was the pilot, Blake Wilson?

The man who flew a helicopter that crashed into a Cairns hotel has been identified as New Zealand national and Nautilus Aviation staff member Blake Wilson.

Mr Wilson, 23, was celebrating a job promotion with friends hours before crashing a Nautilus Aviation helicopter into the Hilton Double Tree Hotel early on Monday morning.

Mr Wilson, from Palmerston North, started working for Nautilus soon after relocating to Australia in March.

Blake Wilson who died in a helicopter crash in Cairns.

Shortly after arriving in Cairns, he posted to Instagram that he was “excited to see what this adventure brings”. His final post was made 10 weeks ago, on May 30, featuring 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.”

Mr Wilson announced in September 2022 that he had become a commercial helicopter pilot after “some challenging days in the seat, but all up an incredible experience”.

Tributes poured in the days after the crash.

Christchurch Helicopters in a statement to the Cairns Post paid tribute to their former student.

“Blake completed his Diploma in Aviation with Christchurch Helicopters in 2022,” the statement read.

Jono Spring, from Palmerston North in New Zealand - Mr Wilson’s hometown - expressed his sadness at the loss of his mate.“I am so sorry bud,” he said on Facebook.

Where was the crash site?

Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton on the corners of Esplanade, Abbott and Florence Street about 1.50am.

A man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s whose hotel room was nearby to the crash was treated with smoke inhalation and taken to Cairns Hospital.

Video of the scene shows huge flames on top of the building and parts of the helicopter, including rotor blades were found in the pool in the hotel’s grounds and on the esplanade.

Witnesses have described a sound like a bomb going off.

Footage of “just one person” entering the Nautilus Aviation hangar in the general aviation section of the Cairns Airport emerged on Tuesday, recorded in the minutes before the unauthorised chopper flight turned fatal.

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said he had been briefed on the CCTV footage, which captured the theft of the Robinson R44 on Monday night.

What did emergency services say?

Police declared a Public Safety Preservation Act, creating an exclusion zone that covered the Esplanade, Minnie Street, Abbott Street and Florence Street.

Members of the public are urged to avoid the area.

Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor for the Far Northern Region Caitlin Dennings told media upon arrival about 300 to 400 people were evacuated from the hotel.

“At the time it was too unsafe to enter the hotel to view the helicopter. At that time we waited for QFES approval prior to entering to assess the situation,” she said.

Queensland Ambulance Service shared pictures showing crews outside the Double Tree by Hilton on the The Esplanade.

Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer Richard Barker said they were assisting relevant authorities with their formal investigation into the incident.

Speaking from Brisbane, Premier Steven Miles described the Cairns chopper crash as “terrifying” but said Cabinet had been told there was no further risk to the community.

What was the result of the investigation?

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau in October finalised an investigation into the crash.

“The investigation found that the pilot conducted an unauthorised and unnecessary flight at night, while affected by alcohol,” ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said.

Mr Wilson had gained access to the Nautilus hangar after entering a code into a security door keypad.

He held valid New Zealand and Australian commercial helicopter pilot licences and had previously flown R44 helicopters.

But he was employed by Nautilus as a ground handler, and was not approved to fly the operator’s helicopters.

What did witnesses say?

“A helicopter just flew into the building. Unbelievable,’’ one person said in a video posted to social media. She reported seeing a red helicopter flying over the hotel.

“I heard it fly over. It was loud, low and sounded very sick. Not a crash though. More like a controlled emergency landing,’’ Mick Lennon posted.

Reports of the sound was reportedly terrifying for people in the hotel.

“Unfortunately it is quite frightening to hear. I suppose that noise of helicopter crashing prior to 2am in the morning,” she said.

“There’s reports that it sounded like a bomb and seeing fire and smoke from that. A lot of the occupants of the hotel were very unsure about the situation at the time

“There is a lot of unease here at the evacuation centre which is a hotel down.”

Hotel guests have detailed the horrifying noise they woke up to.

Annie Zhao, a tourist from China, was staying on the top floor of the double tree Hilton.

“We just were woken up by a massive bomb, a huge bang,” she said.

“Then the alarms went off, we all went out and you could see the fire on the roof.”

“We were taken to the other Hilton.”

Enrico Lolli who was working at the nearby Crystalbrook Riley when the crash happened said it seemed the aircraft was in trouble well before the crash.

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Originally published as Blake Wilson and Cairns helicopter crash: Everything we know about pilot, final moments