Pilot Dead After Fiery Chopper Crash on Hotel Roof

A pilot on an “unauthorised” flight has died in a fiery helicopter crash on a far north Queensland hotel roof. An eyewitness has described how the twin-engine chopper flew around “really fast” before hitting Cairns’ DoubleTree by Hilton before 2 a.m. on Aug. 12 in a “massive explosion.” “It was like a fuel tank exploding,” tourist Veronica Knight told AAP. Police have confirmed the pilot—the helicopter’s sole occupant—died at the scene, with hundreds of hotel guests evacuated. “Forensic investigations are under way to formally identify them,” police said of the pilot. Helicopter propellers dislodged in the crash, with one landing on the main street and the other in the hotel’s pool....