The household of former Leicester soccer membership proprietor Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has filed the biggest deadly accident declare in English historical past after the Thai billionaire died in a helicopter crash in 2018, representatives mentioned Friday [Jan. 10].
The Excessive Courtroom declare introduced towards helicopter producer Leonardo S.p.A. was valued at 2.15 billion kilos ($2.6 billion).
Vichai and 4 others died within the crash simply outdoors the Premier League crew’s King Energy Stadium in October 2018.
“My household feels the lack of my father as a lot at the moment as we ever have finished,” mentioned Vichai’s son, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha. “That my very own kids, and their cousins, won’t ever know their grandfather compounds our struggling.”
An inquiry by the British authorities’s Air Accidents Investigation Department (AAIB) discovered {that a} broken tail rotor led to the crash and dominated out pilot error.
“My father trusted Leonardo when he purchased that helicopter however the conclusions of the report into his demise present that his belief was fatally misplaced,” mentioned Aiyawatt, who succeed Vichai as chairman of Leicester. “I maintain them wholly liable for his demise.”
A press launch issued Friday mentioned the declare sought compensation for lack of earnings and different damages. It mentioned King Energy, the corporate based by Vichai, was incomes income in extra of two.5 billion kilos a 12 months. It mentioned web revenue peaked at 237 million kilos ($289 billion) the 12 months earlier than his demise.
The Leonardo AW169 helicopter took off from the middle of the sector on the King Energy Stadium after a Premier League match. The inquiry discovered that it received to about 430 toes (130 meters) above the bottom, then spun round and plummeted right into a concrete step outdoors the stadium. It discovered that there was a seizure of the tail rotor duplex bearing.
Membership staff Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and Swaffer’s companion, Izabela Roza Lechowicz, had been all killed within the accident.
“The inspiration of the declare introduced towards Leonardo is the impartial AAIB report launched in September 2023. Contemplating the purview of the AAIB’s mission is to report on security and to not blame, the report was as damning a report as I’ve ever learn,” mentioned Peter Neenan, a companion at Stewarts, the regulation agency representing the household.
Leonardo mentioned it will defend the declare.
“Leonardo has the deepest sympathy for many who misplaced their lives within the accident, all of them clearly cherished by their households, pals and communities. Their deaths had been an unquestionable tragedy,” the corporate informed The Related Press. “Leonardo is conscious of the declare which has been issued by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s household within the English Excessive Courtroom and is contemplating this with its authorized advisers and insurers. Leonardo intends to defend this declare.
“Leonardo notes that the AAIB Closing Report, launched in September 2023, has not directed any Advisable Actions to Leonardo. The AAIB report concluded that Leonardo complied with all regulatory necessities in each the design and manufacture of the AW169. Leonardo meets probably the most fashionable and stringent certification and security requirements within the sector. Any additional touch upon the declare right now could be untimely.”
{Photograph}: Tributes from supporters relaxation at a memorial underneath a portrait of crew proprietor Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha outdoors Leicester Metropolis Soccer Membership, Monday Oct. 29 2018, in Leicester, England. (AP Picture/Rui Vieira, File)
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