The company confirmed that the man, named locally as Blake Wilson was a staff member. While he had previously held a helicopter pilot's license in New Zealand, he was not authorized to fly the company's helicopters and had not flown in Australia before.
Nautilus Aviation said he had worked for the firm for four months and had been at an informal party for Wilson who had been promoted within the company. Investigators have said they believe the helicopter was taken from the Cairns Airport before flying into the no-fly zone over the central business district.
About 400 people were evacuated from the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel as a result of the crash and subsequent fire, two were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
Steven Miles, Premier of Queensland indicated it was too early to review security, "Cairns Airport may well consider to look at their specific arrangements, but I think it's probably too early to tell," he said.