Moments before the fatal October 27 crash of a Leonardo AW169 in Leicester, UK, the medium twin helicopter failed to respond to the pilot’s left pedal input. That’s the preliminary finding released Wednesday by the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) after reading the aircraft’s combination digital flight and voice data recorder.
The helicopter lifted off from the center field pitch at King Power stadium with five aboard at 7:37 p.m. local time, yawed 15 degrees left and then slightly forward before beginning a rearward climb to 320 feet agl, where the gear was retracted and the climb paused. Heading then changed consistent with initial pedal movements and the helicopter subsequently entered a progressively severe right yaw contrary to the pilot’s left pedal inputs.
The AW169 reached an altitude of 430 agl before descending at a high rotation rate, impacting the pavement upright next to the stadium with gear retracted, rolling over on its left side, and quickly becoming engulfed in flames. First responders were unable to access the helicopter due to the fire’s intensity and all aboard were killed.