Zezti
Player Valuation: £70m
An interim report has been published: https://www.itv.com/news/central/20...ort-published-into-leicester-helicopter-crash
The helicopter's journey
– AAIB report
The weather
The report says that at the time of the accident the weather was clear with good visibility and no cloud below 1,000 ft.
The wreckage
It confirms that the aircraft came to rest on an area of land next to the King Power stadium car park.
– AAIB report
Ongoing investigation
The AAIB say that cause of the apparent loss of 'yaw' control - the direction the aircraft was pointing - has yet to be determined.
An investigation of the tail rotor control system is being carried out as a priority.
There will also be a "comprehensive examination" of:
The helicopter's journey
- The helicopter took off on its first flight of the day from Fairoaks Airport, Surrey, just before 2pm, with the pilot and passenger on board.
- It landed just after 2pm in Battersea, where three other people got on board.
- The helicopter took off from Battersea at 2.15pm and flew to the Belvoir Drive Training Ground, landing just before 3pm.
- Everyone on board went to the King Power Stadium, Leicester.
- The pilot and a passenger returned to the training ground and at 6.45pm, it took off, with two people on board, for the short flight to the King Power stadium.
- Between 7pm and 7.30pm the pilot and four passengers boarded the helicopter for a flight to London Stansted Airport.
- The helicopter started up at 7.34pm and at 7.37pm, it lifted up from the centre of the pitch circle.
- Gear retraction started as it passed through a height of approximately 320 ft.
- The helicopter's climb then paused.
- The direction of the helicopter was initially consitent with the direction of pedal movements that were recorded.
- It then began to point right - contrary to the pilot’s left pedal command.
- The helicopter reached a height of approximately 430 ft before descending with a high rotation rate.
The helicopter struck the ground in an approximately upright position on a stepped concrete surface, with the landing gear retracted, and rolled onto its left side.
The helicopter was rapidly engulfed in an intense post-impact fire. Stadium staff and emergency services were quickly at the scene but were not able to gain access to the helicopter because of the intensity of the fire.
The helicopter was rapidly engulfed in an intense post-impact fire. Stadium staff and emergency services were quickly at the scene but were not able to gain access to the helicopter because of the intensity of the fire.
– AAIB report
The weather
The report says that at the time of the accident the weather was clear with good visibility and no cloud below 1,000 ft.
The wreckage
It confirms that the aircraft came to rest on an area of land next to the King Power stadium car park.
The post-impact fire resulted in substantial damage to the predominantly composite structure of the helicopter.
Several sections of the airframe were almost completely consumed by the fire and large sections of the remaining fuselage suffered significant loss of structural integrity.
Several sections of the airframe were almost completely consumed by the fire and large sections of the remaining fuselage suffered significant loss of structural integrity.
– AAIB report
Ongoing investigation
The AAIB say that cause of the apparent loss of 'yaw' control - the direction the aircraft was pointing - has yet to be determined.
An investigation of the tail rotor control system is being carried out as a priority.
There will also be a "comprehensive examination" of:
- The helicopter wreckage
- Recovery and analysis of recorded data from the Combined Voice and Flight Data Recorder (CVFDR), aircraft systems and other sources.
- An assessment of the operation, maintenance, design and manufacture of the aircraft.
