The family of the late Leicester City chairman Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha have lodged a £2.15 billion claim against the company which made the helicopter in which he and four other people were killed. The family has said the case, lodged in the High Court today (Friday, January 10, is “the largest fatal accident claim in English history”.
The claim is against Leonardo S.p.A. and alleges the helicopter manufacturer is liable for the deaths resulting from the crash at the King Power Stadium in October 2018. A report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB), published in September 2023, raised serious concerns about the safety of the aircraft which crashed shortly after take-off, the family claim states.
The AAIB found that the crash was caused by the seizure of “a key component located in the tail rotor”. In a statement today, the legal team acting for the family claimed that issues involving the component “prompted a sequence of further failures which drove the helicopter into an uncontrollable and accelerating spin until it crashed and erupted into flames.” LeicestershireLive has asked Leonardo for a response to the family’s allegations.
READ MORE Leicester City’s helicopter tragedy
The claim also alleges the manufacturer failed to warn customers or regulators about the risk. The AAIB report concluded there was nothing the pilot could have done to prevent the crash.
The legal team’s statement continued: “The claim seeks compensation for the loss of earnings and other damages, valued at £2.15 billion, which were the result of Khun Vichai’s premature death. At the time of the crash, King Power, which was founded by Khun Vichai, was earning revenue in excess of £2.5 billion per year and had a net profit which peaked at £237 million the year before his death.
“That success was driven by Khun Vichai’s vision, drive, relationships, entrepreneurism, ingenuity and reputation. All of this was lost with his death.”
The helicopter crashed shortly after City’s Premier League game against West Ham on Saturday, October 27. It came down in a car park alongside the ground shortly after 8.30pm and moments after it had taken off from the pitch.
Police and emergency services rushed to the scene and made valiant efforts to rescue the people trapped inside the helicopter, which was by that point engulfed in flames. The tragedy claimed the lives of Vichai Srivaddanhapraba along with two members of his staff, Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai, and pilots Eric Swaffer and Izabela Roza Lechowicz.
Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Khun Vichai’s son and successor as club chairman, said today: “My family feels the loss of my father as much today as we ever have done. That my own children, and their cousins will never know their grandfather compounds our suffering.
“We have reflected on the conclusions of the AAIB report and thought carefully about how we wished to proceed. My father trusted Leonardo when he bought that helicopter, but the conclusions of the report into his death show that his trust was fatally misplaced. I hold them wholly responsible for his death.”
The family is represented by aviation law firm, Stewarts. Peter Neenan, a partner at Stewarts, said: “The foundation of the claim brought against Leonardo is the independent AAIB report released in September 2023.” He added: “The claim takes that safety-driven analysis to its eventual implication in allegations” of “negligence”.
“Leonardo’s customers include national militaries, air ambulances and other first responders across the globe. It is critical that all operators of these helicopters have faith and confidence in the machines,” said Mr Neenan.
An inquest into the tragedy is set to start in Leicester on Monday.
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