By Isaac Ashe, BBC News, Leicester.
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A helicopter crash in which five people were killed at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium was an accident, an inquest jury has concluded.
The football club’s chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, fellow passengers Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai, pilot Eric Swaffer and Swaffer’s partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz all died in the crash on 27 October 2018.
On Tuesday, jurors delivered their conclusion to coroner Prof Catherine Mason, stating they found the helicopter “had all its appropriate airworthiness and maintenance certificates”.
They also found Swaffer had taken “all the appropriate actions available to him to try to regain control of the helicopter”.
Pictures of the five victims were put 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 conclusion was delivered, Prof Mason said she would “seriously consider” issuing a prevention of future deaths report “in the coming weeks”, but would await advice from industry bodies.
She also praised emergency service workers who responded.
“From what I have heard in evidence and indeed saw with my own eyes in part… is that large numbers of extremely brave men and women selflessly strived to deal with the aftermath of this crash,” Prof Mason added.
The coroner had previously instructed the jury that its conclusions into where, when and how the five came to die could not legally dispute the findings of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
A final report, published by the AAIB in September 2023, said the Leonardo AW169 helicopter’s tail rotor bearing seized, which in turn caused the crash.
The AAIB said the crash was “inevitable” after a sequence of mechanical failures, and ruled out drone involvement and pilot error.
Eyewitnesses told the inquest the aircraft had taken off as usual following the club’s 1-1 home draw with West Ham United before it began to “aggressively” spin out of control as a mechanical failure led Mr Swaffer to lose control of the tail rotor.
At this point, a crash was “inevitable”, the inquest heard, and the helicopter came to rest on its side on a concrete step between two car parks outside the stadium.
The jury was told that there was no drill that Mr Swaffer could have followed in the helicopter’s instruction manual – as in the event of a loss of tail rotor control, there was no expectation of a safe outcome.
Cause of death
The fuel tanks ruptured in the impact, creating a “substantial” leak which was ignited at the rear of the helicopter.
The coroner also told the jury the identities of the deceased and the medical cause of their deaths were not in dispute.
Pathologist Dr Michael Biggs, who carried out post-mortem examinations on each of the five who died, told the inquest previously that Ms Lechowicz died from injuries sustained from the impact of the crash.
He added the other four people on board would have died “quite rapidly” from smoke inhalation.
Prof Mason told the jury that “had it not been for the fire, each of the four would have survived”.
Philip Shepherd KC delivered a statement outside Leicester City Hall, following the inquest conclusion, on behalf of the late chairman’s son Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, who is the current club chairman.
It said: “My family are thankful to senior coroner Mason for her inquest which has shone a spotlight on what happened on the 27th of October 2018.
“As leader of our family, a caring and devoted husband, father, and grandfather, we feel my father’s loss every day. A one-of-a-kind, an investor in dreams, as one witness said.
“It’s impossible to put my father into words. Thank you Leicester for your outpouring of support. We miss him and feel his loss every day.”
The family also confirmed they were continuing their 2.15bn legal claim against the helicopter’s manufacturer Leonardo, describing the aircraft as a “death trap” and an “accident waiting to happen”.
The AAIB report into the crash, published in 2023, said investigators had concluded the helicopter complied with “all applicable airworthiness requirements” and had been maintained correctly before the crash.
Leonardo has been approached for comment but – in response to the 2023 report – a spokesperson said the AAIB report had “rightly” concluded that the firm “complied with all regulatory requirements in both the design and manufacture of the AW169”.
Tributes to the four other victims had also been shared at the start of the inquest, with Swaffer described as “great company” and someone with a “profound love for aviation, technology, travel, his motorbike and life in general”.
Ms Lechowicz was remembered as a “warm, caring, hardworking” sister, and the wife of Kaveporn Punpare said he was loved and missed by his family every day.
Former Miss Thailand contestant Nusara Suknamai was described as a “pillar” of her family. In a statement, they said: “This is the greatest loss for the family. We will never forget it.”