Leicester City’s director of football has described the frantic moments after a helicopter carrying the club’s chairman crashed seconds after taking off from King Power Stadium. Jonathan Rudkin described running down the tunnel while shouting, “We need medics urgently at the back of the stadium”, after witnessing the aircraft fall into a spin as it left the pitch following a Premier League match against West Ham in 2018.
At the start of an inquest at Leicester Coroner’s Court today (Monday January 13), Mr Rudkin talked about watching the first half of the game with Khun Vichai, and then walking with the chairman to the helicopter.
He said: “The chairman always waved and raised his thumb. I would always shake his hand before departure. The chairman was the last one to get in. I would then walk back to pitchside and then stand and wait for his departure.
READ MORE: The 12 horrific minutes of Leicester City’s helicopter tragedy
“It seemed like two or three minutes just as the rotor got started – having flown with the chairman before, it would have been all the rotors getting warmed.” The helicopter came down in a car park alongside the ground shortly after 8.30pm, moments after it had taken off.
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 Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha along with two members of his staff, Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai, and pilots Eric Swaffer and Izabela Roza Lechowicz.
During today’s hearing, the jury was shown pictures of Mr Rudkin meeting Khun Vichai prior to kick-off on the day in question, and after the game – when he walked the chairman to the helicopter. Mr Rudkin said: “I watched the game in the director’s box alongside the chairman who then watched in his private box in the second half.”
Asked by Jonathan Hough KC what he discussed with Khun Vichai later that evening, Mr Rudkin said: “The chairman wanted to get an update on a nasty injury. He was always very keen to know that information.
“We sat and discussed the game and other areas of the football. He [then] received information that the helicopter was on its way from the training ground. We then proceeded down to level two where he collected some belongings before looking to depart.”
Tributes left at the scene in the wake of the tragedy
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Mr Rudkin then described watching the helicopter lift into the air before it turned and began to spin out of control. He said: “As soon as it went into the first full circle, I thought this was strange.
“As soon as it starts spinning, you see things on television and realise that this is something not right here. This real fast rotation that then started to nose dive away from the stadium.”
Mr Rudkin said he began running down the players’ tunnel, trying to alert members of staff and medics in the stadium to what had happened to the helicopter. “I saw some stewards, I started shouting, ‘We need medics urgently at the back of the stadium’, not knowing where the helicopter was going to land, just trying to get a reaction to everybody.
“People did respond really well in terms of getting medical attention and getting people around to the crash. I then ran through the doors opposite the tunnel.”
Mr Rudkin told the jury how he got in his car parked outside the stadium and drove as close to the crash site as he could, where he could see the fire begin to take hold.
Earlier at the inquest, a video tribute towards Khun Vichai was played. Mr Rudkin said the tribute showed the “remarkable impression” that Khun Vichai had made not only on the football club but the city as a whole.
He said: “The culture that was created, the academy at the time received amazing investment from him, which has enabled many young footballers across the city to try and achieve their dreams. That was what he was about, giving everybody an opportunity to achieve the impossible dream, that was Khun Vichai.”
The disaster was caused by a 5cm bearing which had fallen apart, causing the pilot to lose control while about 400ft above the stadium. The AAIB’s principal investigator Mark Jarvis gave evidence to the jury in the form of a presentation on how the tail rotor worked and what led to the pilot losing control of it.
As Mr Swaffer began a right turn, almost instantly after this the tail rotor duplex bearing seized. This was due to a breakdown in the lubrication in the bearing. This caused Mr Swaffer to lose all control of the helicopter.
Mr Jarvis said that the spin of the helicopter reached 209 degrees per second. He said: “Our conclusion was that the pilot had done everything in his power to correct the situation he found himself in. The pilot would have been pushed against his harness, the forces experienced by the pilot would have been extreme and extremely disorientating.
“He took quick action and took the only action he could.” Mr Jarvis said Mr Swaffer tried to “cushion” the impact by applying power back to the helicopter blades “close” to the point of impact.
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