A helicopter crashed into the roof of a Hilton DoubleTree hotel in northeastern Australia early Monday, killing the pilot and injuring two hotel guests, authorities said.

       Police, who said the flight was “unauthorized,” are investigating the crash, which occurred shortly before 2 a.m. local time in the popular tourist destination of Cairns, in the state of Queensland.

       The twin-engine helicopter’s crash into the roof started a fire that sent billowing clouds of smoke into the air and forced hundreds of guests to evacuate, Queensland police said.

       The DoubleTree by Hilton Cairns confirmed the incident and said guests and employees were “successfully evacuated from the premises and reaccommodated elsewhere.” The hotel said it was “working with authorities as they investigate the incident.”

       The pilot, who was the only person in the helicopter, was declared dead at the scene, police said without identifying him.

       The aircraft owner, Nautilus Aviation, said in a statement Tuesday that the pilot was “a current employee in a ground crew position” who joined the company about four months earlier. The employee held a New Zealand commercial helicopter pilot’s licence but had “never flown in Australia or for Nautilus Aviation and were not authorised to fly Nautilus Aviation helicopters,” the company said. He had recently been promoted to a ground crew position in a different location, and some company employees, including off-duty pilots, had gathered privately Sunday night to send him off, the company said.

       On Monday, the employee “gained unauthorised access to our helicopter hangar and misappropriated one of our helicopters,” Nautilus Aviation said.

       As a result of the crash, two hotel guests received “minor injuries” and were taken to a hospital but were “doing okay,” Shane Holmes, acting chief superintendent of the Queensland Police Service, told journalists Monday.

       No one else was injured, which Holmes called “pure luck.”

       “We are so grateful that there has been no other injuries as a result of this incident. It could have been much worse,” he said.

       Photos from the scene of the crash appear to show parts of the helicopter scattered on the ground.

       Two of its blades detached, with one landing on the Esplanade near the hotel and the other landing in the pool, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

       Photos also show a smashed window at the hotel.

       Nautilus Aviation said in its statement that it will continue to work closely with Queensland police and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) “as they investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

       ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said at a news conference Monday that police believe the aircraft took off from Cairns Airport. He said that “visibility was down at the time” of the incident, and that the investigation would look at the aircraft’s equipment, the nature of the flight and any other evidence to determine whether “this was a transport safety event or something different.”