Family launch £2bil claim over helicopter crash that killed former Leicester owner

LONDON: The family of the former Leicester City owner killed in a helicopter crash have launched a £2.15 billion (US$2.63 billion) legal claim against the manufacturers of the aircraft, it was announced Friday.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others were killed when the Thai billionaire’s personal helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from the Premier League club’s King Power stadium in October 2018.

Srivaddhanaprabha’s family allege Leonardo S.p.A., which manufactured the helicopter, is liable for his death.

They are now seeking £2.15 billion in compensation for loss of earnings as a result of his death, the pain he experienced before he died, and funeral expenses, according to London-based public relations firm Portland, who are acting for the family.

A report by Britain’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said “serious concerns” had been raised about the helicopter’s safety, according to Portland.

The firm said the family started action at London’s High Court on Friday, with Portland adding: “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, Portland said, insisting: “The AAIB report concluded there was nothing the pilot could have done to prevent the crash.”

At the time of the crash, Srivaddhanaprabha’s Thai travel retail group, King Power, earned more than £2.5 billion a year in revenue, the firm said. Its net profit reached £237 million during the year before his death, it added.

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who succeeded his father as Leicester 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.”

He added: “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.”