The family of the former chairman of Leicester City, who died with four others in a helicopter crash, has launched a £2.15 billion legal claim against the aircraft’s manufacturer.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed alongside fellow passengers Kaveporn Punpare, Nusara Suknamai, pilot Eric Swaffer and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz in October 2018.
The compensation claim seeks cover for the loss of earnings and other damages, and is valued at more than £2 billion.
Legal firm Stewarts, which is representing the family, said it was “the largest fatal accident claim in English history”.
The crash occurred on 27 October 2018, about an hour after a home game with West Ham United, when the aircraft took off from the club’s King Power Stadium and crashed shortly after.
Stewarts said High Court action had been launched on Friday.
An inquest into the deaths is set to begin on Monday, more than six years later, with eyewitnesses, emergency service staff and corporate witnesses all set to give evidence in front of a jury.
A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), published in September 2023, found the crash was “inevitable” after a sequence of mechanical failures, and said the pilot could have done “very little” to save everyone on board.
Chief inspector of air accidents at the AAIB, Crispin Orr, said Mr Swaffer did what he could to control the Leonardo AW169 helicopter, but the catastrophic failure in a bearing in the tail rotor resulted in the aircraft making a sharp right turn.
As the helicopter – which had reached an altitude of about 430ft (131m) – was turning out of control, a shout of “hey, hey, hey” came from the rear cabin, where Mr Vichai and his employees were seated, the AAIB said.
In aircraft voice recordings, Mr Swaffer was heard to say: “I’ve no idea what’s going on”, shortly before the helicopter crashed into a concrete step.
The investigation discovered a worn bearing on the tail rotor had seized after the helicopter took off.
The shaft that controlled the tail rotor then unscrewed and became detached as a result, which in turn caused the helicopter to spin out of the pilot’s control.
The AAIB report stated the helicopter complied with “all applicable airworthiness requirements” and had been maintained correctly before the crash.
The wear on the rotor bearing was also found to have built up over a period of time and could not have been predicted, according to the inspectors.
Examination of the bearing was only required once it had been used for 400 hours, but the helicopter had only been flown for 331 hours when the crash occurred.
One of the “contributory factors” was that regulations do not require maintenance checks to review the condition of used bearings against their original design, the AAIB said.
Drone involvement and pilot error were ruled out.
Peter Neenan, a partner at Stewarts, said: “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.”
Mr Vichai’s son Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha – who took over as chairman of Leicester City following his father’s death – said: “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,” he added.
Leonardo have been contacted for comment.
