Pilot cleared in 2018 helicopter crash that killed Leicester owner

A "catastrophic" mechanical failure, not pilot error, was the cause of a horrific helicopter crash that killed Leicester City's Thai owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others in 2018, investigators have said.

As the aircraft turned out of control, a shout of "Hey, hey, hey!" came from the rear cabin, where the football club boss and two of his employees were seated, according to the official report into the crash.

"I've got no idea what's going on," pilot Eric Swaffer, 53, shouted back before the Leonardo AW169 helicopter plummeted to the ground from a height of around 130 metres (430 feet) and burst into flames.

Vichai, two members of his staff - actress and former beauty queen Nursara Suknamai, and Kaveporn Punpare - Swaffer and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz, who was also a professional pilot, were all killed in the accident, which happened shortly after the helicopter took off from the Leicester City pitch on 27 October 2018.

Swaffer, a highly experienced pilot "performed the most appropriate actions" but was unable to regain control of the aircraft, the report by the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

This included raising a lever to reduce the helicopter's pitch angle and "cushion the impact".

Four of the five occupants survived the initial impact but died in the subsequent fire.

"The impact... damaged the lower fuselage and the helicopter's fuel tanks which resulted in a significant fuel leak... and an intense post-impact fire rapidly engulfed the fuselage," according to the report.

The crash occurred around an hour after a Premier League match between Leicester City and West Ham United at the club's King Power stadium.

The inquiry found that the pilot's pedals became disconnected from the