00:00It had been a promotion, a party to celebrate, and it's now known the pilot who died in the
00:07fiery crash worked for Nautilus Aviation but was never authorised to fly.
00:13Nautilus Aviation can now confirm this person was a current employee in a ground crew position.
00:20Joining the company four months ago.
00:23We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual's family and all who have been
00:27affected by this tragedy.
00:29Police are yet to confirm the pilot's name, while the investigation is ongoing.
00:34The four-seater Robinson R44 was in the air just a few minutes before it made a fiery
00:39impact into the Doubletree Hotel on the Cairns Esplanade.
00:43Debris spilling onto the busy tourist hotspot.
00:47Aviation experts say it's a wake-up call to Titan security as to how an unauthorised flight
00:53on a stolen aircraft could go undetected.
00:56Every general aviation organisation around the globe is going to start looking at their
01:02security procedures and say, can this happen to us?
01:05Especially in light of an elevated national terror threat.
01:09Cairns Airport may well consider whether to look at their specific security arrangements.
01:15Authorities are relieved more people were not hurt.
01:18It was catastrophic and there were two rooms that were heavily impacted.
01:22The helicopter's onboard recording devices will be analysed in Canberra.
01:27There's still a lot of information for us to process before we can conclusively come
01:31up with a flight path.
01:32In a statement, the Cairns Airport CEO said it operates under a multi-layered security
01:38program.
01:39A review had been conducted showing no compromise of airport fence or access points.
01:46Late today, Nautilus Aviation confirmed off-duty staff held a gathering on Sunday night.
01:52A send-off for the pilot who was involved in the crash.
01:56The badly damaged hotel remains closed for lengthy repairs.
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