Pilot could have not stopped helicopter crash that killed Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, report says
- Pilot Eric Swaffer, his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz and two members of Vichai’s staff, Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, were also killed
- Air accident report says despite tail rotor failing Swaffer managed to land softly enough for four of victims to survive initial impact
It was not possible for the pilot to recover from the tail rotor failure on the helicopter that crashed and killed Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in 2018, Britain’s aviation accident investigator reported on Wednesday.
Pilot Eric Swaffer, his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz and two members of Vichai’s staff, Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, were also killed in the crash soon after take-off outside the King Power Stadium in the central English city of Leicester following a Premier League match.
Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the helicopter was yawing uncontrollably and descending rapidly at a low altitude near buildings at night after the tail rotor failed. The tail rotor counteracts the torque of a helicopter’s main rotor to ensure the aircraft does not spin out of control.
“The investigation found that, in the prevailing circumstances, the loss of yaw control was irrecoverable,” it said in its final report on the crash.
Nevertheless, the pilot managed to land softly enough for four of the five people on board to survive the impact, according to postmortem examinations.
“Their reported injuries would, however, have prevented them from being able to escape from the helicopter without external assistance, given the position in which it came to rest,” AAIB said.