Flying Lessons By Christine Negroni on February 9, 2021 at 8:11 PM
Surprising no one, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the helicopter crash that killed basketball superstar Kobe Bryant just over a year ago, was the result of poor pilot decision-making. Evidence of that came to light within days of the accident in January 26, 2020.
The surprise came later, when NTSB board chairman, Robert Sumwalt, suggested things might not have taken a turn for the tragic, had two pilots been at the controls that day instead of one.
Bryant, his teenage daughter Gianna, her friends and their parents, a youth basketball coach and the pilot were killed when the S-76 owned by Island Express Helicopters slammed into a hillside in Calabasas, California. The pilot, Ara Zobayan, 50, had become disoriented as he tried to get the helicopter out of clouds. Instead he turned and descended into the ground.
David McNew/Getty ImagesBy AMANDA MAILE, MINA KAJI and ALEX STONE, ABC News (NEW YORK) Federal investigators on Tuesday said the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others, including the pilot, crashed last January when the pilot became disoriented after flying in thick fog.The pilot did not follow training, violated visual flight rules and was unable to differentiate between up and down, investigators found.The pilot, Ara Zobayan, was flying under Visual Flight Rules, meaning he needed full visibility. Instead of diverting the Jan. 26, 2020, flight to a nearby airport, Zobayan continued the flight into dense clouds, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. The investigators said he tried to climb out of the cloud cover but instead turned left and descended, slamming the helicopter into nearby hills.Bryant and their close family friends were headed to a basketball game at Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy on the day of the crash.Zobayan had been empl
Federal safety officials are to announce the long-awaited probable cause of the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed nine people, including NBA star Kobe.