A helicopter crash that killed Leicester City’s owner and four other people at the King Power Stadium was an accident, an inquest jury ruled today.
The helicopter crash tragically claimed the lives of billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his fellow passengers Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai, alongside pilot Eric Swaffer and co-pilot Izabela Roza Lechowicz.
The helicopter, a Leonard AW169, ‘aggressively’ spun out of control from a height of 430ft and was then ‘engulfed’ in flames after taking off from the pitch on October 27, 2018.
Senior coroner Catherine Mason instructed the jury yesterday before they began their deliberations that only an accidental conclusion could be reached.
‘The helicopter crash was a terrible tragedy that cost the lives of five people,’ she said.
‘These were remarkable individuals who were greatly loved and will be terribly missed. This hearing is to explain to the world how they came to die.’
The jury was told to ‘accept and follow’ the findings of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch’s (AAIB) probe into the crash, including that the pilot took ‘appropriate’ measures and ‘did not contribute’ to the helicopter’s loss of control.
The inquest was told by Mark Jarvis, a principal inspector for the AAIB, that the helicopter spun due to a mechanical fault. A bearing in the tail rotor became ‘seized’, causing a control shaft to rotate and become unscrewed.
The helicopter crash killed Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others
The helicopter span after taking off from the pitch and crashed before bursting into flames
The helicopter crashed onto its left-hand side on a concrete step, leading to a ‘substantial’ fuel leak which ignited the rear of the aircraft within a minute of the impact. Flames ‘rapidly’ consumed the helicopter.
The court heard that four of the five people killed in the crash died because of smoke inhalation after the fire broke out, while Ms Lechowicz ‘likely died at the point of impact’ as a result of traumatic injuries to both her head and chest.
Dr Michael Biggs, a forensic pathologist, told the inquest that there was no evidence to suggest the pilot was medically incapacitated at the time of the crash.
The jury was told that the report made it clear the pilot did ‘nothing wrong’ and attempted to save the passengers by reducing the rate of the helicopter’s spin.
However, it was established that the ‘crash landing was inevitable’.
The jury’s conclusion, which was read to the hearing by the foreperson, said: ‘The helicopter had all airworthiness and maintenance certificates.
‘It was found that the pilot, Eric Swaffer, took all available and appropriate options to try to regain control of the helicopter.’
Pictures of the five killed in the crash were put on a screen in the court while the conclusion was read.
A tribute to Mr Srivaddhanaprabha in the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Garden, which is on the site of the crash
The helicopter burst into flames shortly after taking off
Ms Mason paid tribute to the people who died in the helicopter crash and said: ‘Five innocent lives were cruelly lost on October 27 2018, lives that were cut too short.
‘This huge loss will be borne by the families for the rest of their lives, a loss that is also felt by the community of Leicester.
‘It has been a long journey. Just over six years for you, the families, to get the answers you wanted as to how your loved ones came by their deaths.
‘I hope you feel through these inquests that you now have a voice.’
Ms Mason also praised the emergency services workers who responded to the crash.
She said: ‘From what I have heard in evidence and indeed saw with my own eyes in part…is that large numbers of extremely brave men and women selflessly strived to deal with the aftermath of this crash.’
Philip Shepherd KC, representing Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s family, read a statement outside Leicester City Hall, which said: ‘Today the jury reached a conclusion into the deaths of those onboard the Leonardo AW169 helicopter after the devastating crash at Leicester City Football Club more than six years ago.’
Mr Shepherd read a statement written by Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Khun Vichai’s son, which said: ‘My family are thankful to senior coroner Mason for her inquest which has shone a spotlight on what happened on the 27th of October 2018.
‘As leader of our family, a caring and devoted husband, father, and grandfather, we feel my father’s loss every day. A one-of-a-kind, an investor in dreams, as one witness said.
‘It’s impossible to put my father into words. Thank you Leicester for your outpouring of support. We miss him and feel his loss every day.’
