An inquest into the deaths of five people killed when a Leonardo AW169 helicopter crashed at an English soccer stadium on Oct. 27, 2018, has ruled that the loss of life was accidental. The case heard by a jury and a senior coroner in Leicester reached its verdict late on Tuesday, essentially confirming the main findings of a September 2023 report by the UK’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).
Catherine Mason, the coroner, instructed the jury that the two-week hearing could only conclude that the deaths had been accidental since there were no legal grounds to dispute the AAIB finding that the main cause of the crash was due to failures in the tail rotor pitch control mechanism. “The helicopter had all airworthiness and maintenance certificates,” said the jury in their statement at the end of the hearing. “It was found that the pilot took all available and appropriate options to try to regain control of the helicopter.”
This accident occurred as the AW169 was departing the Leicester City Football Club stadium after an English Premier League game. It claimed the lives of club chairman Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, as well as fellow passengers Nusara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, and Izabela Lechowicz, and the pilot, Eric Swaffer.
Separately, the Srivaddhanaprabha family is suing Leonardo in England’s High Court claiming £2.15 billion (about $2.7 billion) in damages for his death. In a statement issued on January 10, when the lawsuit was filed, Leonardo expressed its deepest sympathy for those who lost their lives, saying it will defend the claim and is considering the matter with legal advisers and insurers.
Published in September 2023, the AAIB report identified the main cause of the accident as failures in the tail rotor pitch control mechanism. The agency also made eight recommendations to EASA to address what it said were weaknesses in the certification process for large rotorcraft.
Following the accident, EASA issued airworthiness directives requiring inspections of tail rotors on both the AW169 and larger AW189 helicopters to ensure correct installation of the servo actuators. Leonardo has also issued multiple service bulletins addressing the issues identified in the AAIB accident report.