Leonardo S.p.A. challenged in landmark fatal accident claim following death of Leicester City Chairman

The largest fatal accident claim in English history has been launched today at the High Court. The legal action is being brought by the family of former Leicester City Football Club Chairman, Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who was killed alongside four others in a helicopter crash in October 2018.

The claim is being brought against Leonardo S.p.A. and alleges the helicopter manufacturer is liable for the death of Khun Vichai.

A 209-page report produced by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) and published in September 2023 raised serious concerns about the safety of the aircraft which crashed shortly after take-off from Leicester City's King Power Stadium. 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 prompted a sequence of further failures which drove the helicopter into an uncontrollable and accelerating spin until it crashed and erupted into flames.

The claim alleges the seizure of the component, and the catastrophic consequences, were the result of multiple failures in Leonardo's design process. This included a key design alteration it had made in other helicopter variants to mitigate one of the risks, that it did not use in the accident helicopter. That design alteration alone may have prevented the total loss of control of the helicopter and the death of all those onboard. The claim also alleges that the manufacturer failed to warn customers or regulators about the risk.

The AAIB report concluded there was nothing the pilot could have done to prevent the crash.

The claim seeks compensation for the loss of earnings and other damages, valued at £2.15 billion, which were the result of Khun Vichai's premature death. At the time of the crash, King Power (founded by Khun Vichai) was earning revenue in excess of £2.5 billion per year and had a net profit which peaked at £237 million the year before his death. That success was driven by Khun Vichai's vision, drive, relationships, entrepreneurism, ingenuity and reputation. All of this was lost with his death.

Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, the son of Khun Vichai who succeeded his father as Chairman of Leicester City, 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.

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."

The Srivaddhanaprabha family have retained Stewarts to represent them in their claim against Leonardo, together with specialist silks Philip Shepherd KC and Harry Steinberg KC.

Peter Neenan, a partner in the Aviation team at Stewarts who is representing the family, said:

"The foundation of the claim brought against Leonardo is the independent AAIB report released in September 2023. Considering the purview of the AAIB's mission is to report on safety and not to blame, the report was as damning a report as I have ever read. The claim takes that safety-driven analysis to its eventual implication in allegations of defects and negligence throughout the design process.

"Leonardo's customers include national militaries, air ambulances and other first responders across the globe. It is critical that all operators of these helicopters have faith and confidence in the machines."

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