Helicopter spun out of control before crash killing Leicester owner, inquest told
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A mechanical failure caused a helicopter containing the owner of Leicester City football club to “rapidly” spin out of control before it crashed and burst into flames, moments after leaving the pitch, an inquest has heard. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, referred to in court as Khun Vichai, died in the crash on October 27 2018 after a mechanical failure caused the aircraft to spin while it was leaving the King Power Stadium in Leicester.
An inquest sitting at Leicester City Hall, which began on Monday, is also looking at the deaths of the helicopter’s pilot, Eric Swaffer, his partner Izabela Lechowicz, and passengers Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, who were also killed in the incident.
Jon Rudkin, director of football at Leicester City who knew the club’s owner for eight years before his death, described the moment the helicopter, a Leonardo AW169, began to “nosedive” after he had walked Khun Vichai to it across the pitch. Mr Rudkin said of the helicopter’s descent: “It held its position as it sometimes did. As it turned it continued to turn and then go into a spin.
“As soon as it went on that first full circle, I thought this was strange. It then started to nosedive away from the stadium still rotating in the air.”. Mr Rudkin told the inquest he saw the chairman wave and give a thumbs up as the helicopter began to leave the pitch.
