00:00Today the jury reached their conclusion into the deaths of those on board the Leonardo AW169 helicopter
00:09after the devastating crash at Leicester City Football Club more than six years ago.
00:16They were Khun Vichay Srivadhanaprabha, Eric Swoffa, Isabella Lekovic, Lusara Sukumai and Kavaporn Poonparev.
00:28They were innocent victims of a tragic accident that never needed to happen.
00:37While it was no part of the inquest to attribute blame, the evidence heard told a story of basic engineering failures by Leonardo.
00:50While the accident sequence began with the seizure of a critical bearing which led to a cascade of failures
00:59in the tail rotor system that was vital for keeping the helicopter under control,
01:06the causes of this tragedy can be traced back to fundamental design errors and the failure to mitigate known risks.
01:17During the two and a half week inquest, the jury heard that the helicopter crashed,
01:24even though it was still new, even though it was properly maintained,
01:30and even though it met minimum certification standards, and even though there was no pilot error whatsoever.
01:39In fact, Eric Swoffa, the pilot, was a highly competent and very experienced pilot
01:46who did everything in his power to control what became an uncontrollable helicopter
01:53when the tail rotor suddenly failed shortly after take-off from the King Power Stadium.
02:00The inquest heard evidence that the design was such
02:05that it was a matter of time before something catastrophic occurred.
02:10It was an accident waiting to happen.
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