The helicopter pilot slain beside former Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha nearly saved the Thai billionaire’s life.
When the chopper took off from the King Power Stadium in 2018 en route to London Stansted, Srivaddhanaprabha and the pilot were among five people on board.
Pilot Eric Swaffer, 53, exclaimed, “I have no idea what’s going on,” as the chopper whirled around five times in 14 seconds before plummeting from 430 feet above a popular public parking lot. Almost miraculously, Eric was able to save everyone on board.
The veteran pilot executed every emergency action flawlessly, and by withdrawing the collective control, he was able to cushion the impact.
According to an official account, only one of the passengers was killed when the chopper crashed. However, the helicopter also collided with a half-metre-high concrete step, resulting in a substantial fuel leak.
As a result, the other four occupants, including Eric and Srivaddhanaprabha, killed while attempting to flee the burning vehicle.
On Wednesday, the Air Accident Investigations Branch released a 285-page report on the crash’s findings.
The AAIB determined that the crash occurred as a result of a critical ball bearing failing, leading the tail rotor to spin out of control, causing the aircraft to spin. “There’s no evidence of any problem until the bearing seized,” said Peter Wirrell, who was involved in the study.
He went on to say that Eric did the right thing by bringing the plane down and then “pulling up” to soften the impact with the ground.
The bearing was supposed to be serviced once the trip reached 400 miles, however the helicopter had only clocked 331 miles at the time of the tragedy flight.
Following the assessment, the AAIB issued eight safety recommendations, which will now be forwarded to the European Aviation Safety Agency.
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