Leicester City helicopter crash which killed five people ruled accidental
28 January 2025, 14:16 | Updated: 28 January 2025, 14:55
The helicopter crash that killed the five people outside Leicester City's football stadium, including the club's former owner, was ruled accidental.
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The owner of Leicester City Football Club at the time, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was one of the people that were killed in the crash in 2018.
He died alongside staff members Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai, pilot Eric Swaffer and crew member Izabela Lechowicz when the helicopter came down near the stadium shortly after take-off from the pitch.
On Tuesday, an inquest jury returned their conclusion that the crash was an accident to coroner Prof Catherine Mason.
Jurors found the helicopter "had all its appropriate airworthiness and maintenance certificates", adding that the pilot, Mr Swaffer, had taken "all the appropriate actions available to him to try to regain control of the helicopter".
Read more: Memorial garden to open in memory of Leicester City helicopter crash victims
Pictures of the five people killed were projected on a screen in the court while the conclusion was read.
Prof Mason said: "This huge loss will be borne by their families for the rest of their lives, a loss that is also felt by the community of Leicester."
"To the families, I would say it's been a long journey to get the answers the families wanted as to how your loved ones came to their death. I hope through this inquest you have had a voice."
As the jury's conclusion was delivered, Prof Mason said she would "seriously consider" issuing a 'prevention of future deaths' report "in the coming weeks", but would wait until she heard advice from industry bodies.
The inquest was previously told that four of the victims died 'quite rapidly' from smoke inhalation from the fire that broke out after the crash, meaning they might have survived if the helicopter hadn't caught on fire.
Pathologist Dr Michael Biggs, who carried out post-mortems on the five passengers who died, said Ms Levhwicz died from injuries she sustained on impact.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) also found that the Leonardo AW169 helicopter reached an altitude of approximately 430ft before plummeting to the ground near the stadium after a match, where the aircraft was rapidly engulfed in a post-impact fire.
The pilot's pedals became disconnected from the tail rotor, resulting in the aircraft making a sharp right turn which was "impossible" to control, investigators found.
The AAIB described it as "a catastrophic failure", causing the helicopter to spin quickly, approximately five times.
As the helicopter plummeted to the ground, 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.
The hero pilot "performed the most appropriate actions" which included raising a lever to reduce the helicopter's pitch angle and "cushion the impact".
The aircraft landed on a concrete step, crashing down on its left side, before catching on fire due to a fuel leak.
