Fatal helicopter crash investigation delayed because of pandemic, inquest told
A report into the 2018 incident in which Leicester City FC owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed was published nearly five years after the event.
An investigation into the fatal helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium in which the owner of Leicester City FC was killed was delayed partly because of the Covid pandemic, an inquest has heard.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, referred to in court as Khun Vichai, died when his Leonardo AW169 helicopter spun out of control and burst into flames when it took off from the pitch after a match on October 27 2018.
An inquest at Leicester City Hall is also looking into the deaths of the helicopter’s pilot Eric Swaffer, his partner Izabela Lechowicz, and passengers Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare.
Philip Shepherd KC, representing the relatives of Khun Vichai, told the hearing on Monday that the family had “concerns” about the length of time taken to complete the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report, which was published nearly five years after the crash.
Mark Jarvis, a principal investigator for the AAIB, told the inquest it was the “longest” investigation he had ever worked on but that it was completed in the “shortest possible” time frame.
He told the inquest the investigation was “quite significantly” delayed because of the pandemic in 2020 which restricted travel to other countries and delayed the shipment of parts.
He said: “We suffered from the effects of business lockdowns, staff were not available throughout Europe … and laboratories had closed.”
Mr Jarvis added that feedback on the report, including from the AAIB’s Italian counterparts, had brought “new and significant” information forward which meant further investigations had to take place.
The AAIB report made eight recommendations to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency based on its findings, including that data should be shared from helicopter manufacturers to companies making individual parts.
Mr Jarvis told the inquest during an earlier hearing that the helicopter spun out of control after a bearing in the tail rotor became “fixed”.
Matteo Ragazzi, a director of engineering for Leonardo’s helicopter division, told the inquest that information from 43 test flights had been shared with the bearing manufacturer, SFK.
The inquest heard that Leonardo issued 22 service bulletins to its customers after the crash, informing them of potential issues, and introduced a new tail rotor bearing, which was deemed a “critical component”, in 2020.
