News on the number of casualties is sketchy at the moment. Nothing's really been said. The owner, which comes from an eyewitness from BT Sport who saw him board and the pilot, obviously. No other details given.
Just seen on BT sports ticker-tape confirming that the helicopter contained two pilots, the club owner and his daughter.
Reports earlier suggested it may be the owner and his son .. not sure if there has been any further update but my heart goes out to all of the families. Witnesses suggesting as it took off from the pitch it struggled to clear the stadium then spiralled down .. with the aviation fluid on board as soon as it hit the deck with any force its a given its gonna burst into flames. So tragic .. as others have mentioned what a crap day for football what with this and Glen Hoddle having had a heart attack. Very very sad indeed
R.I.P... an owner prepared to mix with the supporters and attend games as a fan.... (go figure)... I think he paid £39 million for Leicester similar to a gift we received... the difference is, they'll erect a statue to him at King Power.
I know the time difference between the UK and Thailand won't help, but it's a bit strange there's been no statement.
Yes. Living in Leicester I have often had occasion to compare their owner to our pair of vindictive twats. (Just had to insert the word 'vindictive')
Terrible thing to happen I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again though. Helicopters are bloody horrible and seem statistically dangerous to me (I’ve flown in them going offshore a few times and they’re scary as they are noisy, particularly with only one pilot...what happens if the pilot gets ill?!
I'm with you, I have flown over a million miles in planes and never felt apprehensive, but the odd occasion I have flown in a Helicopter I felt uneasy.
I’d echo that. Colleague of mine (Lynx pilot) once explained that helicopters are constantly trying to fail. I’ve never forgotten what he told me. He explained that a gearbox failure and rear rotor failure were game over if close to the ground. I’ve only ever felt safe in a CH47; love those tandem rotors. V-22 Osprey was interesting. MoH
There was the pilot's partner on board as a passenger. She is also a pilot. Looks like the crash was not pilot-related.
Just terrible news. An owner genuinely well liked by fans and staff. He did incredibly kind things like buying all the Leicester fans a drink in the stadium on his birthday and also the unbelievably generous gesture of buying the squad BMW I8s when they won the PL title. Football will be worse off without him. Thoughts are with the family and their friends. RIP
I had an RC helicopter when I was younger. Not one of those cheapo gadget things a proper one mostly made from CFRP and aluminium with a single main rotor and actual tail rotor. Bloody thing was impossible to fly in good conditions never mind a bit of wind. That ended up coming to an untimely end.
There are a ridiculous amount of tragedies aren't there. And yet planes are comparatively incredibly safe.
It would be interesting to know what the actual stats are, some things seem statistically very bad simply because they are involved with more high profile cases.
