'I'm still reliving the Leicester helicopter crash'

An eyewitness who was 1 of the archetypal radical astatine the country of the Leicester City chopper clang said helium inactive relived the calamity each time much than six years on.

Foxes president Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha died successful the clang extracurricular the club's stadium, alongside chap passengers Kaveporn Punpare, Nusara Suknamai, aviator Eric Swaffer and his spouse Izabela Roza Lechowicz connected 27 October 2018.

Martin Wicks - who was portion of the attraction squad astatine the nine - arrived astatine the downed chopper "covered successful fuel" and alerted 2 constabulary officers who unsuccessfully tried to interruption into the craft to rescue those inside.

The 56-year-old plumbing and heating engineer, who gave grounds to a assemblage inquest - which recorded an accidental decision connected Tuesday - told the BBC: "It's thing that ne'er leaves you."

After the crash, Mr Wicks was fixed a bravery grant successful 2019 but helium said his woman - alternatively than him - deserved the award, adding she and his children had helped him woody with the intelligence interaction of the crash.

Mr Wicks explained owed to his enactment astatine the stadium and grooming ground, helium was extracurricular the stadium successful the car parkland erstwhile the Leonardo AW169 craft came down aft taking disconnected astatine 20:37 BST - pursuing the club's 1-1 gully with West Ham United.

He told the inquest, which was held astatine Leicester City Hall, that the chopper was "making an antithetic noise", but that it came down successful "quite a controlled manner" aft the process rotor duplex bearing failed and caused the craft to participate an uncontrolled spin.

The chopper crashed connected its near manus broadside connected a factual measurement - creating a "substantial" leak that ignited the craft wrong a infinitesimal of the clang earlier flames "rapidly" spread, the assemblage heard.

"It each seemed similar it was happening successful dilatory motion," helium added.

"I didn't privation to get excessively adjacent because, unfortunately, I was covered successful aviation substance astatine the time, from wherever I'd been."

Before helium realised the wrecked chopper was alight, Mr Wicks was six feet from the cockpit and said helium could spot "silhouettes" inside, adding that "it did look similar they were moving".

He alerted 2 constabulary officers - Sgt Michael Hooper and PC Stephen Quartermain - who were attempting successful vain to interruption the windscreen of the cockpit, but each 3 yet moved to safety.

The inquest was told that due to the fact that the chopper had landed connected its side, neither broadside doors could beryllium accessed, with with 1 acceptable astir 2.5m (8.2ft) supra the crushed and the different against the floor.

Specialist instrumentality would person been needed to interruption the glasses, which is designed to withstand the interaction of a 1kg vertebrate travelling astatine 180mph (289km/h), the assemblage heard.

The inquest has besides been told that four of the 5 who died whitethorn person survived had the craft not caught fire.

In 2019, Mr Wicks was commended for his bravery connected the nighttime of the crash, with an grant from the shot club, exigency services and metropolis assembly handed to him by the Prince and Princess of Wales.

In an interrogation with the BBC, Mr Wicks - who present works arsenic a mechanical technologist astatine Leicester General Hospital - said: "I was successful an affectional bubble with a bravery grant from the Royal Family and everything to bash with the interaction that caused.

"But to beryllium honest, I deliberation my woman deserves the award, not me.

"Because it's the interaction that you bring backmost to your location - appetite loss, temper swings, nighttime terrors.

"The biggest compliment I tin springiness is to my woman and children that helped maine done it.

"I'm inactive surviving it now, inactive going done it all. The interaction is not instant. It's erstwhile it creeps up connected you, erstwhile you're down, erstwhile you're fed-up.

"I don't adjacent deliberation if you're successful the exigency services, immoderate signifier of grooming would hole you for what we really saw that night, if I'm truthful.

"It's inactive arsenic caller successful my caput contiguous arsenic connected the time it happened."