Leicester City helicopter crash was accidental, inquest jury told


A jury at an inquest into the deaths of five people killed in a helicopter crash outside Leicester City’s King Power Stadium has been directed by a coroner to only return an accidental conclusion. The Foxes’ chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was killed in the crash alongside Kaveporn Punpare, Nusara Suknamai, pilot Eric Swaffer, and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz on 27 October 2018. Coronor Catherine Mason addressed the jury on Monday, as the inquest entered a third week at Leicester’s City Hall.

Although the coronor called the crash a “terrible tragedy”, only an accidental conclusion could be reached. Prof Mason explained that “the helicopter crash was a terrible tragedy that cost the lives of five people. These were remarkable individuals who were greatly loved and will be terribly missed. This hearing is to explain to the world how they came to die.” The identities of the deceased and the medical cause of their deaths were not in dispute.

Pathologist Dr Michael Biggs carried out post-mortem examinations on each of the five who died and told the inquest previously that Ms Lechowicz died from injuries sustained from the impact of the crash. He added the other four people on board would have died “quite rapidly” from smoke inhalation from the fire that broke out after the helicopter crashed outside the stadium. Mason also instructed the jury that its conclusions into where, when, and how the five came to die cannot legally dispute the findings of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

An AAIB report published in September 2023 found the crash was “inevitable” after a sequence of mechanical failures and said the pilot could have done “very little” to save everyone on board. The inquest continues

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