Picture courtesy of pixel8000 | via The Thaiger

 

Italy-based aerospace company Leonardo has firmly denied responsibility for the tragic 2018 helicopter crash that resulted in the death of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, a well-known Thai entrepreneur and Leicester City football club owner. Vichai's family is suing Leonardo for up to £2.15 billion (approximately 98 billion Thai baht) in London's High Court. The company maintains that its AW169 model, which was involved in the incident, remains safe and that the case was the first crash of its kind.

 

Vichai, renowned in Britain for his ownership of Leicester City during their miraculous 2015-16 Premier League victory, tragically died after his helicopter crashed just outside the stadium on October 27, 2018, and burst into flames. The inquest jury ruled in January that the incident, which claimed the lives of Vichai, two staff members, pilot Eric Swaffer, and co-pilot and partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz, was accidental. The family filed their case in January, seeking compensation for lost earnings and other damages, while their legal representatives have not commented on Leonardo’s counterclaims.

 

Leonardo submitted a written defence that was made public last week, asserting no liability for the crash, stating that every aviation authority has declared the AW169 safe. They also proposed that the pilot's controlled landing could have prevented the helicopter from catching fire. Leonardo expressed sympathy for Vichai’s family but stated that the legal claims against them lack both factual and legal grounds.

 

Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) reported in 2023 that a severe tail rotor failure led to the crash, leaving no room for recovery. Leonardo disputes these findings, highlighting the absence of any safety recommendations directed at them. As the legal proceedings continue, the outcome could have major consequences regarding aviation safety standards and liability within the industry, reported the Bangkok Post.

 

Key Takeaways:

 

• Leonardo denies liability for the 2018 helicopter crash that killed Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
• The family is suing for up to £2.15 billion over lost earnings and damages.
• AAIB reported unrecoverable tail rotor failure, but Leonardo disputes these findings.

 

Related story:

Tragic crash report unveils devastating loss of Leicester City’s beloved Thai chairman and crew

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2025-12-17

 

 

 

...Have They Considered The Possibility Of Sabotage...(?)

...Seems There Was A Lot At Stake...(?)

Well, they would deny wouldn't they.

58 minutes ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...Have They Considered The Possibility Of Sabotage...(?)

...Seems There Was A Lot At Stake...(?)

Reckon the AAIB would have spotted that.  No need for conspiracy theories here.

Friend of mine at Whistler went heli-skiing. Chopper crashed on a frozen lake. No one was injured and all were rescued.

 

Some time later, an aviation investigator came to interview him. His first comment was, "I've never interviewed a survivor before!"

The helicopter landed safely on the pitch at Leicester City. To sabotage the take-off would entail walking on to the pitch and doing the sabotage there, which is pretty unlikely given the number of cameras in a football stadium.

Here is the AAIB's final report. It's a chunky 224 pages long:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64f73d429ee0f2000fb7bf1f/AAR_1-2023_G-VSKP_Final_Vol_1.pdf

The AAIB also published two special reports to provide preliminary information. Here is the second one (eight pages):
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c090ab1e5274a0b64c8a2f4/S2-2018_G-VSKP.pdf

46 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Friend of mine at Whistler went heli-skiing. Chopper crashed on a frozen lake. No one was injured and all were rescued.

 

Some time later, an aviation investigator came to interview him. His first comment was, "I've never interviewed a survivor before!"

Most likely landed by autorotation, so not a crash. A helicopter crash is a total different story, so, unless it was an unfortunate landing with a pilot error, and it might had rolled over or something similar and an intervju was obligated 

 

 

Is it common to sue aircraft manufacturers for accidents? 

On 12/18/2025 at 2:47 PM, thaiowl said:

The helicopter landed safely on the pitch at Leicester City. To sabotage the take-off would entail walking on to the pitch and doing the sabotage there, which is pretty unlikely given the number of cameras in a football stadium.

Here is the AAIB's final report. It's a chunky 224 pages long:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64f73d429ee0f2000fb7bf1f/AAR_1-2023_G-VSKP_Final_Vol_1.pdf

The AAIB also published two special reports to provide preliminary information. Here is the second one (eight pages):
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c090ab1e5274a0b64c8a2f4/S2-2018_G-VSKP.pdf

 

To summarize for those to lazy to read the report.

 

A bearing in the tailrotor control crosshead siezed.

This led to a cascade of failures that ultimately resulted in the tailrotor control becoming detached. 

The helicopter crashed due to loss of tailrotor control.

 

I'm guessing Leonardo's defense will be that they did not manufacture the bearing, they specified what the bearing should be capable of doing, a company supplied them with a bearing rated to achieve this, but it failed.

Will the family then go after the bearing manufacturer  ?

7 minutes ago, Pond Life said:

 

To summarize for those to lazy to read the report.

 

A bearing in the tailrotor control crosshead siezed.

This led to a cascade of failures that ultimately resulted in the tailrotor control becoming detached. 

The helicopter crashed due to loss of tailrotor control.

 

I'm guessing Leonardo's defense will be that they did not manufacture the bearing, they specified what the bearing should be capable of doing, a company supplied them with a bearing rated to achieve this, but it failed.

Will the family then go after the bearing manufacturer  ?

People sued Morton thiokol the manufacturer of the space shuttle solid rocket boosters , one of which failed and led to the challenger destruction 

22 hours ago, Pond Life said:

 

To summarize for those to lazy to read the report.

 

A bearing in the tailrotor control crosshead siezed.

This led to a cascade of failures that ultimately resulted in the tailrotor control becoming detached. 

The helicopter crashed due to loss of tailrotor control.

 

I'm guessing Leonardo's defense will be that they did not manufacture the bearing, they specified what the bearing should be capable of doing, a company supplied them with a bearing rated to achieve this, but it failed.

Will the family then go after the bearing manufacturer  ?

That would still be Leonardo 's responsibility.

6 hours ago, stevenl said:

That would still be Leonardo 's responsibility.

That will be for the court to decide.

5 minutes ago, Pond Life said:

That will be for the court to decide.

As is the case discussed here. Why post comments when, after all, it's up to the court to decide.