£2.15bn claim over helicopter crash that killed former Leicester City owner

A £2.15 billion legal claim has been launched over the helicopter crash that killed Leicester City Football Club’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 law 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 £2.5 billion a year in revenue, the law firm said.

Its net profit reached £237 million during the year before his death, it added.

The damages claimed by the family are for the personal injuries suffered by Mr Srivaddhanaprabh, 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.

Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who succeeded his father as Leicester City chairman, 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.

“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.”

A spokesperson for Leonardo UK said the company “intends to defend this claim”.

It said: “Leonardo has the deepest sympathy for those who lost their lives in the accident, all of them clearly loved by their families, friends and communities.

“Their deaths were an unquestionable tragedy. Leonardo is aware of the claim which has been issued by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s family in the English High Court and is considering this with its legal advisers and insurers. Leonardo intends to defend this claim.

“Leonardo notes that the AAIB Final Report, released in September 2023, has not directed any recommended actions to Leonardo.

“The AAIB report concluded that Leonardo complied with all regulatory requirements in both the design and manufacture of the AW169.

“Leonardo meets the most modern and stringent certification and safety standards in the sector. Any further comment on the claim at this time would be premature.”

Peter Neenan, a partner at Stewarts, who is representing the family, said: “The foundation of the claim brought against Leonardo is the independent AAIB report released in September 2023.

“Considering the purview of the AAIB’s mission is to report on safety and not to blame, the report was as damning a report as I have ever read.

“The claim takes that safety-driven analysis to its eventual implication in allegations of defects and negligence throughout the design process.

“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.”