Leicester helicopter crash: Prince William pays tribute to owner

The bereft family of Leicester City's billionaire owner sobbed and clung to one another today as they came to the scene of the helicopter crash that killed him and four others.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's wife Aimon and his heir Aiyawatt, who regularly flew with him, were among the mourners who flew to the Midlands from Thailand to lay a wreath outside the King Power Stadium.

Mother and son were in tears as they stood surrounded by the flowers, football  shirts and scarves left by thousands of supporters at a growing shrine for the duty free mogul who died 48 hours ago.

Both cried as they walked carefully through the carpet of tributes and laid a giant wreath before  praying in front of a portrait of the 60-year-old billionaire before the Leicester City first team arrived at the King Power for a private prayer service with the family.

Prince William today led the tributes to the 60-year-old and said he felt 'lucky' to have known him, adding his team's Premier League win in 2016 'captured the imagination of the world'.

He said: 'I was lucky to have known Vichai for several years. He was a businessman of strong values who was dedicated to his family and who supported a number of important charitable causes. He made such a big contribution to football'.

The billionaire perished with his assistant Kaveporn Punpare and Nursara Suknamai, a Thai beauty queen turned PA, when the aircraft spiralled into a 'dead man's curve' when its tail rotor apparently failed.

The AW169 AgustaWestland helicopter's hero pilot Eric Swaffer and his girlfriend co-pilot Izabela Lechowicz also died - but potentially saved hundreds of lives by crashing away from the crowds of fans who saw Leicester play West Ham.

Today the Air Accident Investigation Branch [AAIB] confirmed they have found the aircraft's black box recorder and will be forensically examining the wreckage before moving it to Farnborough, Hampshire, by Friday for further investigation.

Leicester City's stars and football fans from all over country have been left grief-stricken after the aircraft fell from the sky outside the King Power Stadium at about 8.30pm on Saturday night.

The club's greatest player, Gary Lineker, also gave a tribute today and said Vichai was 'a quiet, unassuming man who will always be remembered with great fondness and respect'.

He added: 'He also helped to bring the most magical, miraculous title win in the history of football. Thank you, Chairman for all you did for our football club'.

Prime Minister Theresa May said: 'My thoughts are with those family, friends and supporters connected to the tragic crash outside Leicester City's stadium on Saturday night.

'The outpouring of grief is a testament to how many people's lives were touched by those on board.'

Mr Srivaddhanaprabha, 60, who bought the club for £39million in 2010 and led it to a first Premier League title in 2016, was described as a 'great man' of 'kindness' and 'generosity'.

Beauty queen Nursara Suknamai, his assistant Kaveporn Punpare and also pilot Eric Swaffer, who previously flew members of the Royal Family and pop stars including Sir Elton John, and his girlfriend and co-pilot Izabela Roza Lechowicz all perished alongside him.

Mr Swaffer is believed to have saved the lives of hundreds of fans by steering the doomed aircraft away from vulnerable fans on the ground.

Experts suspect the helicopter's tail rotor failed, sending the £6million AgustaWestland into a 'dead man's curve' that no pilot could handle.

Mr Srivaddhanaprabha's helicopter was heading for Luton Airport where he was due to catch a flight to Thailand on a journey he had embarked on dozens of times every year.

But witnesses say they heard the 'engine stop' in mid-air just after take-off before the aircraft plummeted to the ground in the club's car park at around 8.30pm.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said today it had recovered the digital flight data recorder from the helicopter and will start working on it today.

Mr Srivaddhanaprabha's helicopter was often flown by Mr Swaffer, 53, who has posted pictures of the craft on social media.

He and his partner Izabela Lechowicz, 46 were from Camberley in Surrey and were part of the owner's family's close team.

Mr Swaffer was a close friend of Israeli illusionist Uri Geller, 71, who had known the pilot for years.

The £1.2million detached property in leafy Surrey where the couple lived was quiet today, with a black Mercedes parked in the drive.

Neighbours recalled a 'smiling, friendly' couple who were not often at home due to the pressure on their work schedules, which involved piloting helicopters for wealthy clients.

'I met them at Christmas drinks last year at a community event,' one neighbour, who asked not to be named, said.

'They were very lovely. A very nice couple. We didn't see them much because they were always travelling but it has come as a shock to everyone.'

Another neighbour added: 'They'd always smile and say hello and they both seemed very pleasant.'

Brighton College described former pupil Eric Swaffer - who was among those killed in the crash - as a 'kind and popular' student.

Head master Richard Cairns said: 'It is with great sadness that the school learnt today that one of our former pupils, Eric Swaffer, died at the weekend.

'Eric was at Brighton College from 1979 to 1983 and fell in love with flying when, as a schoolboy cadet, he visited a Royal Navy ship flight deck.

'His contemporaries and teachers remember him as a kind and popular boy. We send our deepest condolences to his family.'

The lead singer of  rock band Kasabian has said the helicopter crash was 'like your worst nightmare'.

Leicester City fan Tom Meighan arrived at the King Power Stadium on Monday to lay down a tribute to the five people who were killed and said the death of the club's owner was like 'losing a member of your family'.

He said: 'The football world is numb, not just Leicester City. The whole world is in mourning. I can't really put it into words. It's just a horrible feeling and a horrible thing that's happened.'

'I was fortunate to meet him a few times because we've played at the stadium. He was a lovely guy and words can't really describe what has happened. I can't really think properly, it's just awful.

'He's part of the family now, I don't know how we are going to recover. But we're going to have to. We're going to have to be strong.'

He added: 'But it's just like your worst nightmare. It's like losing a member of your family. I never thought this would happen to Leicester City.'

Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was seen running towards the stricken helicopter seconds after it crashed and watched it explode and said last night: 'I cannot believe what I saw. It just doesn't seem real'.

In a message for the owner who signed him in 2011 he said: 'Never have I ever come across a man like you. You touched everyone. You changed football. Forever. You gave hope to everyone that the impossible was possible.

'It is difficult to put into words how much you have meant to this football club and to the city of Leicester. You cared so deeply for the entire community. Your endless contribution to Leicester's hospitals and charities will never be forgotten.

'When you signed me back in 2011 you said to me we would be in the Champions League within six years and we would do great things. You inspired me and I believed in you. You literally made my dreams come true'.

Ex-beauty queen Nursara Suknamai also died at the scene. She came second in Miss Universe Thailand 2005 and an added Miss Photogenic accolade in the Bangkok-based contest the same year.

Ms Suknami was also a fitness fanatic, often sharing workout and yoga videos to Instagram. She had also shared images of herself at Leicester games with the hashtag #foxes #lcfc and #fearless.

Yesterday Premier league matches took place across the country as fans fell silent in solidarity with Leicester, whose fans gathered to lay flowers at the King Power Stadium.

Supporters branded it Leicester's 'darkest day', paying tribute to the much-loved owner who helped them to a miracle Premier League victory in 2016.

At Premier League fixtures there was a minute's applause held at Crystal Palace in solidarity with Leicester, and a minute's silence at Manchester United and Burnley followed.

Outside the King Power Stadium a sea of flowers and blue football scarves has grown.

Karen Kennell, 60, a primary school teacher from Leicester, said: 'I was at the game yesterday and I was at home when I heard the news just after half past eight.

'He's contributed so much to the club and the city, when he first came they were in dire straits and he brought them back up to what they are today.

'Not so long I managed to shake his hand, he and the other members of the management team were in the club shop just shaking hands with people, that was just something that they did - it's so so sad.'

Manny Griffin, 50, said: 'We were devastated.  It's true he has done so much for the city - he was such a unique owner, really close to the fans. 'All the fans will be mourning, I hope his legacy will continue. That would be great for him.'

Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel posted a heartbreaking tribute on Twitter, and said he was 'devastated' and heartbroken.

In part of the tribute, referring to the owner he said: 'Never have I ever come across a man like you. So hard working, so dedicated so passionate, so kind and so generous in the extreme. You had time for everyone.

'You touched everyone. It didn't matter who it was, you had time for them. I always admired you as a leader, as a father, and as a man.'

In the aftermath of the crash on Saturday night a police officer rushed towards the wreckage of the helicopter belonging to the Leicester City owner.

The unnamed officer attempted to pull open the door, to save those inside, before an 'explosion' turned the wreckage into a fireball and forced the Leicestershire officer back.

Local fan Leo Brooker told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'One of them was looking for something, I don't know what he was looking for inside the car something to prevent the fire, I don't know.

'And the other man, the other one, he run straight away to the helicopter and he was trying to break the window of the helicopter with, I don't know what he had in his hand, a big metal or... I couldn't see 'cause it was too dark.

'But one of the policemen was trying to break the window and trying to get in and the other one was inside the car looking for something and then the next minute I see the police officer he had a fire extinguisher trying to prevent the fire and i don't know even I was still scared.

'And then this was all going on five to 10 seconds and then there was an explosion and even the policeman and all the three or four other guys that were trying to help but they just pulled back because the fire was going too hot.'

Leicester Director of Football John Rudkin was also safe, according to Sky sources, and the team's manager Claude Puel was also unharmed.

Initial reports had suggested Puel may have been on board but Gregory Campi, the AS Monaco Team 3 coach told Nice-Matin that he was was safe.

It is understood emergency services spent twenty minutes attempting to extinguish the flames.

The sound of the helicopter crash could be heard on a BT Sport post-match broadcast.

The £2million aircraft which has eight seats was spotted hovering over the south east corner of the ground before spluttering and spiraling to ground, near Filbert Way, and bursting into flames.

Spectators at the game said they witnessed the helicopter spinning out of control and that there was a problem with the tail rotor of the aircraft.

Former England legend Peter Shilton and his wife witnessed the carnage unfold.

His partner Stephanie, 50, said: 'We are both in shock on our way home. It happened straight in front of us as we were leaving the ground.

'We don't know what has happened. It's horrendous. We need to know if everyone is OK. That's the biggest thing. We just hope that everyone got out OK.'

Mr Srivaddhanaprabha made his money in retail in Thailand and his King Power duty-free shops are in every airport in the Asian country.

His departure leaving the King Power by helicopter has become a familiar sight and was one of the symbols of the club's extraordinary run to the title in 2016, a year after narrowly escaping relegation.

The chairman's son, Aiyawatt 'Top' Srivaddanaprabha, also the club's vice chairman, has made his way to the UK from Thailand.

His eldest daughter, Voramas, 36, works for King Power and had studied at a London university. Another of the chairman's children, Leicester's vice-chairman Aiyawatt 'Top' Srivaddanaprabha, was not involved in the accident, it was claimed today.

Born in Bangkok on April 4, 1958 to a Thai Chinese family, Srivaddhanaprabha bought Leicester City in August 2010 and was named chairman in February 2011.

The Thai billionaire Srivaddhanaprabha kick-started his business journey by opening a duty free shop back in Bangkok in 1989 at the age of 31.

A descendant of Chinese immigrants, Vichai founded what became the King Power empire in 1989 with a store in Bangkok selling duty free goods and souvenirs.

Devastated fans have described how much the chairman means to them.

Unlike many foreign owners of English clubs seen as having little connection to local fans, the bespectacled Thai was known for his unerring common touch.

Fans were treated to a free beer to celebrate his birthday ahead of a match against Newcastle in April this year.

Season-ticket prices have been frozen for the past four seasons, while Srivaddhanaprabha also donated £2 million ($2.5 million) to help build a local children's hospital in the aftermath of the club's title triumph.

King Power, is now a staple of the country's airports and the brand also have the naming rights to Leicester City's stadium.

An ambulance and ambulance car was filmed driving slowly away from the King Power stadium shortly before 10.30pm. But police would not confirm if the bodies of the dead have been removed.

Superstitious £4billion duty free king who rubbed shoulders with royalty: Inside the life of Leicester City owner who loved to watch X Factor, chilled vintage red wine and enjoyed spreading his good fortune

When he was young, legend has it that Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was involved in a spectacular high-speed car crash on the famously dangerous roads of his native Thailand.

To the amazement of onlookers, he walked free from a sickening tangle of wreckage with little more than cuts and bruises.

He attributed his survival to a 'lucky' golden Buddhist amulet which he'd purchased with a £400 loan from his father, and was wearing around his neck.

Later - after fate, combined with a ruthless and sometimes controversial instinct for business and patronage - had turned him into one of Asia's wealthiest men with a fortune estimated at almost £4billion, Srivaddhanaprabha became a serious collector of such charms.

Around £10m-worth are now displayed in a special museum at the Bangkok headquarters of King Power, the Duty Free business he founded three decades ago and expanded to become a global household name, with more than 10,000 employees.

The museum is one of many unconventional status symbols acquired by the bespectacled 61-year-old, who may have resembled a provincial accountant, but who for years enjoyed the turbo-charged lifestyle of a serious plutocrat.

Though somewhat uncomfortable in the public eye, and almost never interviewed, the man Thais know by the honorific title 'Khun' Vichai was, in recent times, accustomed to rubbing shoulders with the Royal Family, and jetting between homes in Thailand, London's Chelsea Wharf, and rural Berkshire, where his family owns a vast mansion and where his elite polo team, with 60 staff and 80 ponies, are headquartered on a 100-acre plot, one of his two personal polo estates.

In addition to the £2m Augusta Westland helicopter that tragically crashed on Saturday, he owned a 116-foot Sunseeker yacht with five cabins, a top speed of 26 knots, and an £11m price tag – as well as a Gulfstream G-650 private jet, purchased for £43m from Bernie Ecclestone's wife, Fabiana, in 2013.

Some attribute that eye-watering wealth as a major factor in one of sport's most improbable fairy-tales.

After buying Leicester City in 2010, it took just six years to transform the 'Foxes' from a debt-ridden club languishing in the middle reaches of English football's second tier to the most unlikely Champions in the history of the Premier League.

Others argue that he owed the famous title – won at odds of 5,000/1 – to the sort of outrageous good luck that was following him on the day of the aforementioned car crash.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was certainly superstitious, and would regularly fly a plane-load of monks to the Midlands from Thailand's Golden Buddha temple in order to bless both Leicester's pitch and players in advance of a match.

He even built them a designated shrine at the King Power stadium, which is decorated with Buddhist statues and hangings.

Before kick-off, the monks would bless the goal-posts and corner flags, before adjourning to the changing room to splash holy water on the players' legs and feet.

'It's like you're literally having a shower, there's that much water going everywhere,' said the team's star striker, Jamie Vardy, after one game. 'That's the Thai culture and we are happy for them to do it.'

In the directors' suite, things were similarly unconventional: Srivaddhanaprabha would greet his guests, who often included a smattering of minor celebrities (he apparently had a thing for X Factor stars, and was a huge fan of US saxophonist Kenny G) to expensive claret, served ice cold.

'His drink of choice was a £200 bottle of St Emilion red wine that he would stick in the fridge,' recalled a former assistant, Alex Hylton. 'I don't think that was a Thai thing – I think it was a Vichai thing. I'm no connoisseur but it still broke my heart to put a Grand Cru in the fridge.'

Whenever Leicester won, his generosity was boundless. Along with his four children, who were all in one way or another involved in his business affairs (King Power is very much a family firm, his wife of more than 30 years, Aimon, is vice-chair) he celebrated promotion to the Premier League in 2014 by inviting the squad for a meal of caviar and fine wine in a plush west London restaurant.

Having paid the bill, he then gave each player and member of the club a £1,000 chip to gamble at a private members club nearby.

To mark the team's illustrious title, in 2016, players were each given a BMW i8 sports car, worth more than £100,000, and invited to another big night out at a Leicester casino, where Srivaddhanaprabha reportedly hit one of his familiar lucky streaks, winning more than £2 million on the card tables in a few hours.

It was at least some payback for the £150m he's reputed to have put into the club, for which he paid £39m, spending freely on players, buying the Walkers stadium – to be renamed King Power – and wiping out its £103m debt in order to secure Leicester's future.

'We don't run the team in the hopes of making a big fortune from it. We just want to gain recognition of our brand,' said his son Aiyawatt, who looks after much of its day-to-day running.

'If you spend a hundred million dollars to buy a hotel, perhaps only 100 people recognise your brand. But buy a football team in England and suddenly the whole world becomes aware of King Power.'

Today, Leicester City is thought to be worth around £350m, almost ten times what he paid for it. In May 2017, Srivaddhanaprabha brought a second club, Belgian side OH Leuven.

Fans would also benefit from his largesse. Many was the time when the Leicester City faithful were handed vouchers entitling them to a free bag of doughnuts and a bottle of Singha Thai beer, or given heavily subsidised coach travel to away matches.

To mark his 60th birthday, sixty veteran supporters were told that this year's season ticket was on the house. In fact, season ticket prices for the last four seasons have remained frozen. On a more serious note, in 2016 he wrote a cheque for more than £2m to a local children's hospital.

These flamboyant gestures of generosity – a welcome contrast to the charmless zeal with which other overseas investors have corporatised top flight British football – explain the huge esteem in which Srivaddhanaprabha is held in the city of Leicester. Tearful fans converged on the stadium yesterday to leave flowers and other tributes.

His story began in April 1957, when he was born Vichai Rakriaksorn to wealthy Thai Chinese parents who sent him to study in both Taiwan and the United States.

He described his interest in the business of duty free as being a product of his jet-setting childhood. Many of his flights home would stop in Hong Kong. 'As I grew up I saw duty-free businesses from all over the world. I found it an interesting business ... so I said to myself I might be able to do it,' Vichai revealed in one of his few interviews.

He began as an agent for luxury brands before investing in a duty-free business in Hong Kong that he eventually acquired and renamed King Power in the late 1980s. It chuntered along for almost two decades, but suddenly hit the big time in 2006 after securing the exclusive rights to run duty-free stores in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, now the twelfth busiest in the world.

The controversial contract (its tendering process was widely criticised) was blessed by the Thai telecoms tycoon turned prime minister and former Manchester City owner, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Although Shinawatra was removed from power in a coup in September 2006, Srivaddhanaprabha businesses continued to thrive under the military junta that replaced him.

'Vichai has made his money by being close to politicians, that's how you have to do it,' a member of the Bangkok business community told the Guardian in 2016. 'Before that he was an average businessman.'

In addition to politicians, Srivaddhanaprabha also successfully courted Thailand's immensely powerful monarch. King Power was granted a royal warrant in 2009, and in 2012, he was by way of an honour given his surname, which literally means 'light of progressive glory'.

The firm has duly expanded to Cambodia, Macau and China, and diversified into restaurants, hotels and solar power. It also owns a £150m stake in Thailand's largest budget airline.

A longstanding Anglophile, Srivaddhanaprabha and his wife Aimon – who in recent years had to contend with rumours of her husband's alleged, fleeting dalliance with a glamorous Thai socialite who was made a director of Leicester City – were happily settled here. They chose to educate their three eldest children – Voramas, Apichet, nicknamed 'Tip', and Arunroong, who are all in their thirties – at boarding school in England. The youngest son, Aiywatt, 30, known as 'Top', was schooled in Bangkok.

Their connection to the UK lies not just in football, or the luxury properties the family owns (most of which are registered to holding companies in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands), but in the family's involvement in polo, which has brought an entrée into the British establishment, right up to the royal family.

For almost two decades, Srivaddhanaprabha has been one of the sport's most free-spending patrons. He singlehandedly introduced polo to Thailand, building a floodlit ground on the outskirts of Bangkok, and runs one of the world's most successful teams.

His involvement in the sport, which his sons also play almost full-time during football's off season, frequently saw him playing alongside Prince Charles.

He first met the heir to the throne in June 2005 at a charity match in Richmond, called the Chakravarty Cup, when they were on the same team, alongside Prince William.

Srivaddhanaprabha was also President of the exclusive Ham Polo Club in Richmond, Surrey, from 2008-12. Its chairman Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers, a friend of the family, once told the Mail: '[Srivaddhanaprabha and his sons] are very pleasant to be with. Some people in our sport get very wound up and over-excited, whereas they are the sort who win or lose will say, 'Wasn't that fun'.

'They seem much more philosophical than others, whether that comes from their religion I don't know.'

In the last year, Srivaddhanaprabha had also started investing heavily in racehorses, spending around £15m on a British-trained string that now numbers about 60. Several were given football-themed names, including Fox Vardy and Fox Kasper – the latter named after Leicester's goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Then there's a two-year-old, brought for £378,000, called Come On Leicester. Earlier this month it romped home in a six- furlong sprint at Leicester racecourse, a stone's throw from the King Power stadium. The winning odds were 9/4.

Sadly, for so many connected with this football club and this city, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's luck seems to have finally run out.