LONDON, Jan 10 — The family of Thai businessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died in a helicopter crash in 2018, has brought a legal action against Italian helicopter manufacturer Leonardo SpA in a London court valued at £2.15 billion pounds (RM11.8 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.
In a 2023 report, the United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that it was not possible for the pilot to recover from a tail rotor failure with the Leonardo AW169 helicopter.
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.
— Reuters
[caption id="attachment_386211" align="aligncenter" width="1167"]
A general view of the wreckage of the helicopter belonging to Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha that crashed outside the King Power Stadium in Leicester, the United Kingdom, on October 27, 2018. Srivaddhanaprabha and four others including the pilot were killed in the crash. — Picture by REUTERS[/caption]
