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The family of Thai businessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Leicester City football club owner who died in a helicopter crash near the ground in 2018, has brought a legal action against Italian helicopter manufacturer Leonardo SpA.
The case in a London court is valued at £2.15 billion ($2.65 billion).
The family said in a statement on Friday that the action, which claims for loss of earnings and other damages, represented the largest fatal accident claim in English history.
Leonardo did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Srivaddhanaprabha was the owner of Leicester City soccer club, buying the central England side in 2010. Leicester won the English Premier League in 2016 under his ownership.
Pilot Eric Swaffer, his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz and two members of Srivaddhanaprabha’s staff, Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, were also killed in the 2018 crash, shortly after takeoff outside Leicester City’s King Power Stadium following a Premier League match against West Ham.
Four of the five occupants survived the initial impact, but no-one survived due to the helicopter catching fire within a minute following a major fuel leak.
Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found in a 2023 report that it was not possible for the pilot to recover from a tail rotor failure with the Leonardo AW169 helicopter.
The AAIB described this as “a catastrophic failure”, causing the helicopter to spin quickly, approximately five times.
As the helicopter was turning out of control, a shout of: “Hey, hey, hey!” came from the rear cabin, where Mr Vichai and his employees were seated, the AAIB said.
Mr Swaffer, who was a highly experienced pilot, responded by saying: “I’ve no idea what’s going on” and “uttered an exclamation”, according to the report.
He “performed the most appropriate actions” which included raising a lever to reduce the helicopter’s pitch angle and “cushion the impact”, the AAIB said.
The aircraft landed on a concrete step, coming to a rest on its left side.
Leonardo said following that report that its AW169 helicopters remained safe to fly and that the AAIB had concluded it complied with all regulatory requirements in the design and manufacture of the AW169.
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