According to accident investigators, the pilot of the helicopter involved in the deadly crash at Leicester’s football stadium in 2018 said to his passengers, “I’ve no idea what’s going on,” as the aircraft spun out of control.
. Following departure at King Power Stadium, a mechanical breakdown caused by a worn ball bearing in the tail rotor resulted in a loss of control.
A report released on October 27, 2018,https://sportpressbox.com/wp-admin/post-new.php nearly five years after the disaster, by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), absolved the pilot of any mistake and ruled out a drone collision.
After the aircraft caught fire less than a minute after the first accident, four out of the five individuals on board were confirmed to have survived.
Thirty minutes after the game, the chopper had taken off and landed on the Leicester pitch to pick up Vichai. Prior to the tragic flight fifty minutes later, the pilot had been “relaxed,” according to investigators.
However, the helicopter’s tail rotor detached from the pedals shortly after takeoff, causing an uncontrollably violent right turn.
The helicopter began to spin wildly, and recordings from the cockpit captured a yell of, “Hey, hey, hey!” from the rear cabin, where Vichai and two of his workers, Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, were seated.
According to the report, highly skilled pilot Eric Swaffer, who was in the front seat with his spouse, professional pilot Izabela Roza Lechowicz, exclaimed, “I have no idea what’s going on” and “uttered an exclamation.”
The chopper descended to a height of approximately 130 meters before circling back to the football stadium’s outside. According to the AAIB, Swaffer “performed the most appropriate actions,” which included retracting the landing gear to lessen the force of the collision.
Fuel that had spilled during the collision caught fire as it struck the ground and landed on a concrete step, creating a fire that was too strong for rescue personnel to put out before it reached the helicopter.
Investigators discovered that “fatigue damage,” which accumulated over time, was the cause of a bearing seizing in the tail rotor. The helicopter had only been in flight for 331 hours when it crashed, but inspection of the part would have been necessary after 400 hours of operation.
Five persons tragically lost their life in this unfortunate accident, according to head inspector of air accidents Crispin Orr. Our thoughts are with all those impacted, including their loved ones.
He went on, “The tail rotor failure was of a kind that really put them in a very bad situation. It was a very serious failure.” The pilot was at a loss for what else to do.
Orr stated that the inspectors had “gone very deeply into understanding the cause of that failure” and that the inquiry had been “incredibly complex technical.” This included executing endurance tests, utilizing simulators, and analyzing data from hundreds of flights.
Experts from Canada, France, Italy, and the US—where major parts of the Leonardo AW169 helicopter were produced—participated in the extensive investigation.
In addition to outlining further recommendations to increase helicopter safety, such as conducting more inspections on crucial components, the AAIB claimed that steps had already been made to guarantee the aircraft type’s ongoing airworthiness.
At the stadium last year, a monument of Vichai, the Thai billionaire who supported Leicester’s incredible on-field success and won the city’s affection, was unveiled.
