The Air Accident Investigations Branch has recovered the digital flight data recorder from the helicopter in which the Leicester City owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, and four other people died in a crash. The AAIB said it would begin analysis immediately.

The helicopter crashed on Saturday night outside the football club’s stadium. Leicestershire police have named the other people killed as Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, both members of Vichai’s staff, the pilot Eric Swaffer and another passenger, Izabela Roza Lechowicz.

The AAIB said: “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. Today our inspectors in Farnborough will start working on the recorder, which was subject to intense heat as a result of the post-accident fire.

Play Video 0:36 Leicester City players visit memorial to club's owner at stadium – video

“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.”

Among the mourners who paid their respects to the victims on Monday were the Leicester players and Vichai’s family. The manager, Claude Puel, and the team did a lap of the cordon placed around the flowers before standing in silence with fans for several minutes to pay their respects.

Some had arms around each other’s shoulders and some bowed their heads. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who was seen at the King Power Stadium moments after the crash, wiped away tears as he stood next to his teammate Jamie Vardy and Vichai’s son, Aiyawatt.

When the players, who were all dressed in black, finally departed the crowds started to applaud. Schmeichel put an arm around Aiyawatt, the club’s vice-chairman, known as Top, who then grasped his hands together in prayer.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Vichai’s wife, Aimon, and son Aiyawatt pray after laying wreaths outside the King Power Stadium. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Earlier, Aiyawatt and his mother, Vichai’s wife Aimon, placed a wreath among the multitude of flowers, Leicester City shirts and flags.

Since the confirmation on Sunday night that all five people onboard were killed, tributes have poured in from the world of football and beyond. On Monday, the Duke of Cambridge, who is president of the Football Association, offered his condolences to family and friends of the victims.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leicester players pay their respects at the sea of tributes to the victims of the helicopter crash at the King Power Stadium. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

“I was lucky to have known Vichai for several years,” he said. “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, not least through Leicester City’s magical 2016 season that captured the imagination of the world. He will be missed by all fans of the sport and everyone lucky enough to have known him.”

The prime minister tweeted:

Theresa May (@theresa_may) 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.

Schmeichel, said he was “totally devastated and heartbroken”. He said of Vichai: “Never have I ever come across a man like you. So hard-working, so passionate, so kind and so generous in the extreme. You changed football. Forever! You gave hope to everyone that the impossible was possible.”

Vardy said on Instagram: “Struggling to find the right words, but to me you are a legend, an incredible man who had the biggest heart, the soul of Leicester City Football Club. Thank you for everything you did for me, my family and our club. I will truly miss you.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy pays respect to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha at the King Power Stadium. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Vichai, 60, was a hugely popular figure at Leicester, having bought the club for £39m in 2010. With his backing, the club won the Premier League in 2016 for the first time in its history, defying odds of 5,000-1 in a fairytale season.

The self-made billionaire and father of four was also respected locally for his charity work, having donated £2m to Leicester children’s hospital. His surname, meaning “light of progressive glory” in Thai, was bestowed on him by the late King Bhumibol of Thailand in recognition of his corporate and social responsibility programmes.

Witness reports indicated that the helicopter only just cleared the roof of the stands, stayed in the air briefly and then spiralled down to earth after reportedly developing a fault with its tail rotor. The aircraft crashed and burst into flames after impact where it lay on land owned by the club, near a car park used by Leicester’s staff, which was empty at the time.

Witnesses praised Swaffer, who was at the controls when the helicopter crashed, as a hero for guiding it away from crowds on the ground.

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Lucie Morris-Marr, who was friends with Swaffer for 18 years, told the Press Association: “It doesn’t surprise me that he would have done all he could to save lives and do everything in his power to avoid a worse outcome in those final moments. He was an incredible person and very focused when flying.”

Lechowicz was also a professional pilot, and she and Swaffer lived together in Camberley, Surrey. She had moved to the UK from Poland in 1997 and was recently selected by her country’s embassy in London as one of 18 inspirational Polish women.

Writing this year for the embassy website about her path to becoming a pilot, Lechowicz said she had been inspired by her partner whom she met shortly after coming to the UK. “He took me out for a few flights and that is how it all started,” she wrote. “I knew this is something I want to do from the moment I touched the controls for the first time.”

The Polish embassy described Lechowicz as “a wonderful pilot” who “created a positive image of Poland in the UK”.