Mechanical failure, not pilot error, was behind the 2018 helicopter crash that killed Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others, according to investigators in a report published on Wednesday.
“I had no idea what was going on,” said pilot Eric Swaffer, 53, before the plane, a Leonardo AW169, fell from a height of about 130 meters. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabhan, his employees Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, the pilot, and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz, also a professional pilot, were killed in the crash, which occurred shortly after takeoff helicopter from Leicester City airfield on October 27, 2018. .
Experienced pilot Eric Swaffer “took the most appropriate measures” but was unable to regain control of the plane, according to the British Bureau of Investigation (AAIB) report. Among his actions were reducing the angle of the helicopter and “cushioning the impact”.
Four of the five people survived the impact but died in the ensuing fire. The impact “damaged the underside of the fuselage and the helicopter’s fuel tanks, causing a large leak” before the plane caught fire, the report concluded.
The accident happened about an hour after the Premier League game between Leicester City and West Ham United at the King Power Stadium, where Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was leaving after attending a home game.
The investigation determined that the pilot’s pedals were disconnected from the helicopter’s tail rotor, making it “impossible” to control a rapid right turn. Control system failure is due to rotor bearing failure. A bearing inspection was required after 400 hours of operation, but the helicopter had only 331 flight hours at the time of the accident.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who was 60 when he died, was the fifth richest man in Thailand, with an estimated fortune in 2016 of nearly $3 billion. He bought Leicester City for 40 million pounds in 2010, when no one bet on this English club that was then playing in the second division. He managed to make himself the most unlikely Premier League champion of all time in 2016.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
