An AgustaWestland AW169 helicopter crashed shortly after take-off from King Power Stadium, home ground of Leicester City F.C. in Leicester, England on 27 October 2018. All people on board – the pilot burner and four passengers, including club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha – were killed in the crash. [ 3 ] The Air Accidents Investigation Branch attributed the crash to a loss of yaw dominance owing to a failure of the buttocks rotor control linkage. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ]
history of the fledge [edit ]
Vichai frequently travelled to and from Leicester City ‘s matches at the King Power Stadium in the helicopter, with the Leicester Mercury describing it as “ a familiar sight for Foxes fans. ” [ 7 ] On 27 October, the helicopter departed Fairoaks Airport in Surrey with the fender and his girlfriend on board. [ 8 ] It stopped at London Heliport to collect three extra passengers – Srivaddhanaprabha and two members of his staff – before departing at 14:43 BST ( 13:43 UTC ). It arrived at the Leicester City Football Club Training Ground on Belvoir Drive, 1.5 miles ( 2 kilometer ) south of the King Power Stadium at 15:58 BST ( 14:58 UTC ). [ 9 ] All on board disembarked and traveled by cable car to the stadium for Leicester ‘s game against West Ham United. The pilot burner and his girlfriend returned after the football match concluded and then, as was common, flew the helicopter to the stadium to collect Srivaddhanaprabha and his two staff members. [ 10 ] The helicopter was seen preparing to lift off from the pitch live on BT Sport, during a post-match broadcast. [ 11 ] By this point, the coach carrying the West Ham team had departed, [ 12 ] but some Leicester City staff and players were still in the stadium, while there remain fans of both clubs in areas outside. [ 13 ]
The aircraft was ascribable to fly to Luton Airport. [ 14 ]
accident [edit ]
| Nation | Deaths |
|---|---|
 |
3 |
 |
1 |
 |
1 |
| Total | 5 |
With Vichai, the navigate and three early people on circuit board, [ 15 ] the helicopter took off from within the stadium at approximately 20:37 BST ( 19:37 UTC ). [ 16 ] As the pilot turned the helicopter towards its en-route steer, the tail rotor control linkage broke, sending the helicopter into an uncontrollable spin. [ 17 ] [ 16 ] [ 12 ] [ 18 ] One witness described the aircraft falling “ like a rock to the floor ”. [ 19 ] It struck the prime in stadium Car Park E, about 200 metres ( 220 yd ) from the stadium, and explosion into flames. [ 17 ] Two patrol officers and club staff leaving the stadium attempted to rescue those in the helicopter but had to retreat due to the heat and flames. [ 17 ] Investigators ruled out a suggestion of a collision with a patrol drone as a potential causal agent. [ 20 ] The follow day, Leicestershire Police confirmed that everybody on board had been killed in the crash and subsequent fire, and named the five fatalities. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] They were three Thais : golf club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and two members of his staff – Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai, British pilot Eric Swaffer, and his polish girlfriend, Izabela Roza Lechowicz. A little memorial has been erected at East Sheen Cemetery for these two pilots. There were no casualties elsewhere. [ citation needed ] Two patrol officers, Michael Hooper and Stephen Quartermain, suffered burns and fastball inhalation attempting to rescue the occupants, and subsequently were nominated for a national patrol fearlessness award deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as receiving Queen ‘s Gallantry Medals. [ 21 ]
aircraft [edit ]
The aircraft involved in the accident was an AgustaWestland AW169 helicopter, registration G-VSKP, [ 12 ] c/n 69018, manufactured in 2016. [ 22 ] It seated 10 people and weighed approximately 4,500 kilograms ( 9,900 pound ). [ 23 ] It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210A engines. [ 24 ] The aircraft was owned by Foxborough and operated by Amadeus Aviation. This was the first crash and hull loss involving the AW169. [ 25 ]
investigation [edit ]
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch ( AAIB ) opened an investigation into the accident. [ 12 ] Italy ‘s Agenzia Nazionale per louisiana Sicurezza del Volo, representing the state of matter of the manufacturer of the helicopter, and Canada ‘s Transportation Safety Board, representing the department of state of the manufacturer of the helicopter ‘s engines, provided aid. Accredited representatives from Poland ‘s State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation and Thailand ‘s Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee besides provided aid. [ 16 ] The aircraft ‘s Digital Flight Data Recorder was recovered on 28 October, having been sternly damaged in the ardor. It was transported to the AAIB ‘s base at Farnborough, Hampshire, for download of data contained therein. [ 26 ] The wreckage of the helicopter was transported to Farnborough on 2 November. [ 27 ] A coroner ‘s motor hotel was created to investigate the official lawsuit of death for the passengers and crew of the helicopter. The investigation reported in the court revealed that there was minimal opportunity for any individuals who survived the initial crash to escape, or anyone to help those trapped. [ 28 ] On 7 November, the european Aviation Safety Agency ( EASA ) issued an Airworthiness Directive, [ 18 ] demanding checks of the tails of all AgustaWestland AW169 and AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters, as a precautionary bill. [ 29 ] [ 16 ] On 14 November, the AAIB released a particular Bulletin, outlining the progress of the investigation. A loss of yaw control was revealed as the cause of the aircraft crash, with the reasons for the loss of yaw operate not even determined. On 30 November, the EASA issued an Emergency Alert Service Bulletin requiring periodic inspection of part of the buttocks rotor system. This was made mandatary by an Airworthiness Directive issued the same day. [ 18 ] On 6 December 2018, the AAIB published a moment Special Bulletin. [ 18 ] Investigators revealed that passing of control of the helicopter resulted from the tail rotor actuator control shaft ( which controls the pitch of the dock rotor blades ) becoming disconnected from the actuator lever mechanism that transmits the pilots ‘ pedal inputs to control the helicopter ‘s yaw. They have besides revealed testify of the normally stationary control beam being spun by the chase rotor which caused the embattled nut holding the actuator lever in target to clash weld to its carrier, shear off its schism pin and rotate off the weave quill. The locking nut and peg carrier wave were found loosen in the chase rotor fair and were bonded together. A duplex bear that was designed to allow the control cock to remain stationary ( with the rest of the tail rotor assembly rotating around it ) was found to only allow a few degrees of rotation, with the races blocked up by a blend of cauterize grease and metallic particles. AAIB Chief Inspector Crispin Orr stated on the third anniversary 27 October 2021 that the building complex probe is continuing and a final report will be published when their work is complete. [ 30 ]
Responses [edit ]
Fans began to lay flowers and football shirts outside the ground the following dawn. Shirts and scarves were besides seen from other teams including West Ham United, Leicester City ‘s opponent in the match prior to the crash. [ 31 ] On 30 October, Leicester City opened a reserve of condolence, with an on-line version besides available. In the immediate consequence of the accident, some buildings were floodlit in blue as a protection to the victims, including England ‘s home stadium, Wembley. [ 32 ] [ 33 ]
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The Leicester City Foxes Foundation Charity was renamed The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation in honor of the asleep chair and owner. [ 34 ] On 10 November Leicester City fans took separate in a ‘5,000-1 ‘ walk of life in joined memorial of the helicopter crash victims. Thousands of fans took function in the memorial walk before Leicester City played Burnley at home. The initial solicitation was for 5,000 fans to take depart, though reports suggested the number was about 10,000. [ 35 ] [ 36 ] Leicester City established a memorial garden on the locate of the crash. [ 37 ]
The 2018–19 FA Women ‘s Championship match between Leicester City and Manchester United, scheduled for the day after the crash, was postponed out of deference for the victims. [ 38 ] The women ‘s reserve league match against Derby County was besides postponed. [ 39 ] Leicester City ‘s 2018–19 EFL Cup regular against Southampton, which had been scheduled to take place at the King Power Stadium on 30 October 2018, and the 2018–19 Premier League International Cup fastness between Leicester City U-23s and Feyenoord Academy, were besides subsequently postponed. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] The 2018–19 Belgian First Division B fixture between Oud-Heverlee Leuven, the second clubhouse owned by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, and Lommel, in the first place scheduled for 31 October, was besides postponed. [ 42 ] [ 43 ] At the other Premier League football fixtures on Sunday, players wore black armbands, both for the crash victims and for Remembrance Day, though a few days earlier than Remembrance armbands are normally worn. [ 44 ] The NFL London series match between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars taking locate at Wembley stadium the future day included a pre-game tribute in memory of both the Leicester crash and the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting which occurred on the lapp day. [ 45 ]
litigation [edit ]
On 26 October 2021, the families of the pilots launched a legal sheath at the District Court of Massachusetts in the United States, suing Raytheon for damages. The plaintiffs allege that Raytheon “ negligently designed, manufactured, assembled and sold the Tail Rotor Actuator such that the Accident Aircraft ‘s Tail Rotor Actuator control quill was subject to gulf from the actuator pry mechanism ”. [ 46 ]
See besides [edit ]
- Matthew Harding – Chelsea F.C. investor killed in a helicopter crash returning from a football match in October 1996.
References [edit ]
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