Final moments of Kobe Bryant’s fatal helicopter crash revealed
The pilot in the helicopter that crashed in California, killing NBA star Kobe Bryant and eight others, was climbing to avoid a cloud layer before the aircraft plummeted, an accident investigator said.
Speaking at a news conference Monday, Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board said pilot Ara Zobayan told air traffic controllers via radio he was climbing before the Sikorsky S-76B plunged more than 300 metres and crashed in Calabasas on Sunday morning.
“When [Air Traffic Control] asked what the pilot planned to do, there was no reply,” Homendy said.
The helicopter did not have a black box and was not required to, she said. Investigators will be looking at an iPad believed to have been used by Zobayan for flight tracking and weather briefings.
The weather observation at the nearby Van Nuys Airport at 9.51 am on Sunday recorded visibility of 2.5 miles with a ceiling of 1,300 feet, the Washington Post reported.
Some aviation experts said Zobayan might have been disoriented by the fog in the area, but Homendy said investigating teams would look into every relevant factor from the pilot’s history to the engines.
“We look at man, machine and the environment,” she said. “And weather is just a small portion of that.”
Zobayan was a certified pilot and flight instructor, Homendy said. The aircraft’s owner Island Express Helicopters said Zobayan was the chief pilot for the company.
“Ara has been with the company for over 10 years and has over 8,000 flight hours,” the company said.
The accident killed retired athlete Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant; college baseball coach John Altobelli, his daughter Alyssa Altobelli and wife, Keri Altobelli; girls’ basketball coach Christina Mauser; mom Sarah Chester and her 13-year-old daughter, Payton Chester; and Zobayan.