The pilot of the helicopter concerned in a crash which killed the proprietor of Leicester Metropolis Soccer Membership mentioned: “I’ve no thought what’s happening” because the plane was turning uncontrolled.
Eric Swaffer, 53, made the remark seconds earlier than the helicopter hit the bottom outdoors the membership’s King Energy Stadium on October 27 2018, a report by the Air Accidents Investigation Department (AAIB) revealed.
Leicester Metropolis proprietor Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, staff Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, Mr Swaffer and his companion, Izabela Roza Lechowicz – additionally knowledgeable pilot – have been all killed within the accident, which occurred shortly after the helicopter took off from the pitch.
The Leonardo AW169 helicopter reached an altitude of roughly 430ft earlier than plummeting to the bottom.
The pilot’s pedals turned disconnected from the tail rotor, investigators discovered.
This resulted within the plane making a pointy proper flip which was “unattainable” to manage.
The AAIB described this as “a catastrophic failure”, inflicting the helicopter to spin shortly, roughly 5 instances.
Because the helicopter was turning uncontrolled, a shout of: “Hey, hey, hey!” got here from the rear cabin, the place Mr Vichai and his staff have been seated, the AAIB mentioned.
Mr Swaffer, who was a extremely skilled pilot, responded by saying: “I’ve no thought what’s happening” and “uttered an exclamation”, in line with the report.
He “carried out probably the most acceptable actions” which included elevating a lever to scale back the helicopter’s pitch angle and “cushion the impression”, the AAIB mentioned.
The plane landed on a concrete step, coming to a relaxation on its left facet.
4 of the 5 occupants survived the preliminary impression, however no-one survived because of the helicopter catching fireplace inside a minute following a serious gas leak.
The crash occurred round an hour after a Premier League match between Leicester Metropolis and West Ham United.
The AAIB inquiry discovered that the management system failed as a result of a bearing within the tail rotor broke up as a consequence of its ceramic balls sliding slightly than rolling, as a consequence of a build-up of stress.
Requested if this was “an accident ready to occur”, Adrian Cope, AAIB senior inspector for engineering instructed reporters: “It was a course of which constructed up repeatedly.
“The harm in that bearing constructed up over a time frame.”
Inspection of the bearing was solely required as soon as it has been used for 400 hours, however the helicopter had solely been flown for 331 hours when the accident occurred.
One of many “contributory components” for the crash was that laws don’t require upkeep checks to evaluation the situation of used bearings in opposition to their authentic design, the AAIB mentioned.
The 209-page report dominated out drone involvement and pilot error.
The AAIB’s chief inspector of air accidents Crispin Orr mentioned: “The AAIB has carried out an in depth investigation to ascertain why the accident occurred and the way security might be improved.”
Authorities from Canada, France, Italy and the US have been additionally concerned within the investigation due to the place varied vital parts have been manufactured.
The AAIB made eight security suggestions to the European Aviation Security Company (Easa) – whose guidelines for plane certification are mirrored by the Civil Aviation Authority within the UK – to “handle weaknesses or omissions” in laws for certifying helicopters.
These cope with the design, validation and monitoring of security important parts.
Different modifications have been made to the AW169 and AW189 fleets by the producer and Easa as investigators turned conscious of points.
A statue of Mr Vichai was unveiled on the stadium in April final yr.