Leicester City: Former owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s family launch £2.15 billion claim over fatal helicopter crash
Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others were killed when his personal helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from the club’s King Power Stadium in October 2018; former Leicester owner’s family allege Leonardo S.p.A., which manufactured the helicopter, is liable for his death
A £2.15 billion legal claim has been launched over the helicopter crash that killed Leicester City’s former owner, his family’s legal representatives have said.
Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others were killed when his personal aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from the club’s King Power Stadium in October 2018.
Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s family allege Leonardo S.p.A., which manufactured the helicopter, is liable for his death.
It is seeking £2.15bn in compensation for loss of earnings as a result of the Thai billionaire’s death, the pain he experienced before he died, and funeral expenses, the Stewarts law firm said.
A 209-page Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said “serious concerns” had been raised about the aircraft’s safety, according to Stewarts.
It said the family launched High Court action on Friday, and added: “The report found the crash was caused by the seizure of a key component located in the tail rotor, which Leonardo had identified in the design phase as being critical, and its failure catastrophic.
“This failure prompted a sequence of further failures which drove the helicopter into an uncontrollable and accelerating spin until it crashed and erupted into flames.”
Multiple failures in Leonardo’s design process caused the component to seize, Stewarts said.
It added that a “key design alteration” was made to mitigate one risk in other helicopter variants, but that change had not been made in the aircraft Srivaddhanaprabha was in.
“That design alteration alone may have prevented the total loss of control of the helicopter and the death of all those on board”, the firm claimed, adding that Leonardo 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,” Stewarts said.
Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s Leonardo AW169 aircraft lifted off from the centre spot of the pitch shortly after 7.30pm on October 27.
The helicopter briefly took a right turn before an “increasing right yaw rapidly developed, despite the immediate application of corrective control inputs from the pilot”, the AAIB report found.
The aircraft reached about 430 feet before descending “with a high rotation rate”.
It hit a concrete surface and landed on its left side, with the impact damaging the lower fuselage and fuel tanks.
This caused a “significant fuel leak”, which ignited, and a fire “rapidly engulfed the fuselage”, the report said.
Four people inside the aircraft survived the initial impact but were burned alive inside it, Stewarts claimed, referencing post-mortem examination reports.
At the time of the crash Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s Thai travel retail group, King Power, earned more than £2.5bn a year in revenue, the firm said.
Its net profit reached £237m during the year before his death, it added.
The damages claimed by the family are for the personal injuries suffered by Mr Srivaddhanaprabha, statutory bereavement damages, the damage to or loss of his personal effects, and funeral, memorial and probate expenses.
They also include the “special loss of intangible benefits, love and affection that only a father and husband can provide”, and past and future loss of income or services.
