Family and players mourn loss of Leicester crash victims as air authorities begin investigating black box

The family of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha were joined by Leicester players as they lay tributes to those who died in the helicopter crash on Saturday.

Stars Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel, who were influential in the Foxes’ miracle run to winning the Premier League in 2016, stood alongside Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha as they stared at the tributes.

Manager Claude Puel was with the team, while Darnell Johnson placed a football shirt on the memorial on behalf of the youth squad, who were also in attendance.

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Meanwhile, air crash investigators have recovered the black box from the helicopter which crashed killing five people including Leicester City’s billionaire owner.

Aerial images show the charred remains of the AW169 AgustaWestland aircraft lying on its side on wasteland just yards from the club’s King Power Stadium.

The eight-seater helicopter belonging to Mr Srivaddhanaprabha had flown from the centre circle moments before it exploded into a fireball.

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Mr Srivaddhanaprabha, 61, died along with his assistants Kavenporn Punpare and former Thai beauty queen Nusara Suknamai, 33.

Hero pilot Eric Swaffer, 53, and his girlfriend Izabela Roza Lechowicz, 46, were also killed.

Members of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s family today (Mon) joined hundreds of fans at the King Power stadium to pay their respects and lay floral tributes.

Wooden scaffolding covered with white tarpaulin sheets have been erected over the wreckage as the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) scoured the crash site.

The flight recorder was recovered on Sunday afternoon and was taken to AAIB headquarters in Farnborough, Hants., where it is being examined by investigators.

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An AAIB spokesperson said: “We have inspectors here from all four air accident investigation disciplines: engineering, operations, flight data and human factors.

“We recovered the digital flight data recorder (voice and data) on Sunday afternoon and one of our inspectors travelled back to Farnborough with the recorder the same evening.

“Our inspectors in Farnborough will start working on the recorder, which was subject to intense heat as a result of the post-accident fire.

“Our inspectors are continuing to work with the police on site.

“We expect to be here until the end of the week, at which point we will transport the wreckage to our specialist facilities in Farnborough for more detailed examination.

“In the meantime, we are still gathering evidence as part of our investigation.”