Final report into Leicester helicopter crash published

Five people, including Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, were killed in the accident on the 27th October 2018.

A report into the crash has been published
Author: Alex DukePublished 6th Sep 2023

The final report into the helicopter accident that killed Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people has been published by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

The pilot of the helicopter involved in a crash which killed the owner of Leicester City Football Club said: "I've no idea what's going on" as the aircraft was turning out of control.

Eric Swaffer, 53, made the comment seconds before the helicopter hit the ground outside the club's King Power Stadium on October 27 2018, a report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) revealed.

Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, employees Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, Mr Swaffer and his partner, Izabela Roza Lechowicz - also a professional pilot - were all killed in the accident, which happened shortly after the helicopter took off from the pitch.

The Leonardo AW169 helicopter reached an altitude of approximately 430ft before plummeting to the ground.

The pilot's pedals became disconnected from the tail rotor, investigators found.

This resulted in the aircraft making a sharp right turn which was "impossible" to control.

The AAIB described this as "a catastrophic failure", causing the helicopter to spin quickly, approximately five times.

As the helicopter 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.

Mr Swaffer, who was a highly experienced pilot, responded by saying: "I've no idea what's going on" and "uttered an exclamation", according to the report.

He "performed the most appropriate actions" which included raising a lever to reduce the helicopter's pitch angle and "cushion the impact", the AAIB said.

The aircraft landed on a concrete step, coming to a rest on its left side.

Four of the five occupants survived the initial impact, but no-one survived due to the helicopter catching fire within a minute following a major fuel leak.

The crash occurred around an hour after a Premier League match between Leicester City and West Ham United.

"The AAIB has carried out an extensive investigation to establish why the accident happened and how safety can be improved."

The AAIB inquiry found that the control system failed because a bearing in the tail rotor broke up due to its ceramic balls sliding rather than rolling, due to a build-up of pressure.

Inspection of the bearing was only required once it has been used for 400 hours, but the helicopter had only been flown for 331 hours when the accident happened.

One of the "contributory factors" for the crash was that regulations do not require maintenance checks to review the condition of used bearings against their original design, the AAIB said.

The 209-page report ruled out drone involvement and pilot error.

The AAIB's chief inspector of air accidents Crispin Orr said: "The AAIB has carried out an extensive investigation to establish why the accident happened and how safety can be improved."

Principal inspector Mark Jarvis said "As a result of this publication of the final report - we're issuing eight safety recommendations which are designed to deal with omissions and weaknesses we've found in the certification requirements for large helicopters."

He went on to explain why the investigation took a long time, saying that "these investigations are all very thorough, very painstaking,.. with a helicopter of this size and this sophistication there's an awful lot of evidence and you have to follow all of the leads right to the end.

"It's not a quick process, but it is a very thorough and complete process."

Authorities from Canada, France, Italy and the US were also involved in the investigation because of where various significant components were manufactured.

A statue of Mr Vichai was unveiled at the stadium in April last year.

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