Legal action over Leicester City helicopter crash

The family of the former chairman of Leicester City, who died with four others in a helicopter crash, has launched a £2.15 billion legal claim against the aircraft’s manufacturer.

In October 2018, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Kaveporn Punpare, Nusara Suknamai, pilot Eric Swaffer, and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz were killed.

The compensation claim, which is worth more than £2 billion, seeks to provide compensation for lost earnings and other losses.

The aircraft took off from West Ham United’s King Power Stadium on October 27, 2018, and crashed shortly after, about an hour after the home game.

Stewarts claimed that Friday’s High Court hearing had been started.

An inquest into the deaths is set to begin on Monday, more than six years later, with eyewitnesses, emergency service staff and corporate witnesses all set to give evidence in front of a jury.

A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), published in September 2023, found the crash was “inevitable” after a sequence of mechanical failures, and said the pilot could have done “very little” to save everyone on board.

The Leonardo AW169 helicopter’s chief inspector, Crispin Orr, claimed Mr. Swaffer attempted to control the aircraft, but a catastrophic bearing failure caused the aircraft to make a sharp right turn.

As the helicopter – which had reached an altitude of about 430ft (131m) – was turning out of control, a shout of “hey, hey, hey” came from the rear cabin, where Mr Vichai and his employees were seated, the AAIB said.

After the helicopter took off, a worn bearing on the tail rotor was discovered.

The tail rotor’s shaft eventually became detached, which resulted in the helicopter spinning out of control.

According to the AAIB report, the helicopter had been kept up top of its game and had met all of the required standards for airworthiness before the collision.

The inspectors concluded that the wear on the rotor bearing had grown over time and was unavoidable.

Although the helicopter had only flown for 331 hours prior to the crash, an examination of the bearing was only required after it had been used for 400 hours.

According to the AAIB, regulations do not require maintenance checks for used bearings in comparison to their original designs, one of the “contributory factors” was.

Peter Neenan, a partner at Stewarts, said: “Leonardo’s customers include national militaries, air ambulances and other first responders across the globe.

It is crucial that all helicopter operators have faith in the machines.

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Mr. Vichai’s son, said: “My family feels the loss of my father as much as we have ever felt.” That my own children, and their cousins will never know their grandfather compounds our suffering.

He continued, “We have considered the AAIB report’s conclusions and given ourselves to how we want to proceed.”

A spokesperson for Leonardo UK said: “Leonardo has the deepest sympathy for those who lost their lives in the accident, all of them clearly loved by their families, friends and communities.