Legal negotiations are continuing between Raytheon and the households of 2 pilots who died in a helicopter crash at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium three years in the past. US firm Raytheon manufactured components for the helicopter.
An interim report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch found that a fault in the tail rotor system brought on the cockpit pedals to disconnect from the rotor, which in turn caused the helicopter to spin out of control. Login required crashed and exploded in a ball of flames simply after taking off from the stadium on October 27, 2018.
The households of pilots Eric Swaffer and Izabela Lechowicz have filed a lawsuit towards Raytheon in the District Court of Massachusetts. Both pilots died within the crash, alongside the Thai owner of Leicester City Football Club and founding father of King Power Duty Free, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, and workers Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai.
According to BBC News, the authorized papers say the families are in search of compensation not just for the financial loss, but for the “conscious pain and suffering and severe terror” attributable to the crash. The papers state Raytheon’s negligence in design, manufacturing, and assembly led to the deadly crash.
“Raytheon negligently designed, manufactured, assembled and offered the Tail Rotor Actuator such that the Accident Aircraft’s Tail Rotor Actuator management shaft was subject to disconnection from the actuator lever mechanism. As a direct and proximate outcome thereof, the accident aircraft entered an uncontrollable right yaw, contrary to the pilot’s left pedal command, and was caused to fly into the bottom and violently crash.”
Meanwhile, Crispin Orr, chief inspector of air accidents, says the final report into the crash will be launched as quickly as possible.
“The AAIB has performed an especially thorough and detailed investigation that has proven to be technically very advanced and which continues to be ongoing.”g