Leicester City helicopter crash: Animation shows how tragic incident occurred in new report
The Mirror Vichai Srivaddhanaprabhas helicopter was sent into a violent spin before tragically crashing at the King Power Stadium due to a failed tail rotor, a new animation has detailed.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) released a final report looking into the tragic incident on Wednesday. All five people on board the aircraft including beloved former Leicester chairman Srivaddhanaprabha, 60, as well as employees Nusara Suknamai, 32, and Kaveporn Punpare, 33, pilot Eric Swaffer, 53, and Izabela Roza Lechowicz, 46 were killed.
The report found that the pilots pedals became disconnected from the tail rotor of the Leonardo AW169. This was due to a bearing in the tail rotor breaking up after its ceramic balls slid instead of rolled after a build-up of pressure.
An animation from the AAIB released alongside the new report displays the incident in detail with close attention being paid to the rotor itself. The mock-up shows the helicopter taking off from the King Power Stadium pitch before then displaying the Actuator Control Shift becoming disconnected from the Pivoting Lever Mechanism.
