Leicester City helicopter crash ruled an accident at jury inquest
Leicester City helicopter crash ruled an accident at jury inquest
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Worn ball bearing led to loss of control after takeoff with crash killing five people including club chair. The deaths of five people, including the former Leicester City FC owner, killed when a helicopter crashed outside the city’s stadium and became engulfed in flames, have been ruled as accidental by an inquest jury.
An inquest into the deaths of club chair Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the helicopter’s pilot, Eric Swaffer, his partner and co-pilot, Izabela Lechowicz, and passengers Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare concluded at Leicester city hall on Tuesday, over six years after the 2018 crash.
The jury’s conclusion said: “The helicopter had all airworthiness and maintenance certificates. It was found that the pilot took all available and appropriate options to try to regain control of the helicopter.”. Senior coroner Catherine Mason instructed the jury that only an accidental conclusion could be reached, as they could not legally dispute the findings of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) which in 2023 found the crash was a “tragic accident” caused by mechanical failure.
A worn ball bearing in the helicopter’s tail rotor led to a loss of control after takeoff from Leicester City’s King Power Stadium and the helicopter spun to the ground. Four of the five people onboard were found to have survived the initial crash and died when the aircraft was engulfed in fire less than a minute later.
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