Goodnight. Its hard to go from the bottom to the top, but its even harder, when youre already at the top, to go to the bottom and then look back up at that mountain again, knowing that you just climbed it and all the struggles and hard work that you had to go through, to look at it and say, man, i got to climb that thing again. Hello and welcome. Im jesse l. Martin. Kobe bryants life had many acts his entree to the nba as a skinny teen, his ascension to superstardom, and postretirement, a new focus on his family and creative projects. Kobes relaunch in entertainment could have been more impactful than his career on the court. Until a routine flight on a foggy january morning changed his destiny forever. This is how it really happened. Obrien the combination of celebrity and aviation, mystery and fear is very compelling to people. And you know, whats interesting is you can connect a dot directly between what happened to john f. Kennedy jr. And what happened to kobe bryant. [ Crowd Chanting kobe ] riddell kobe bryant will be remembered as one of the alltime greats in the nba for all his success, for his titles and his accolades and his achievements, and for the way he played the game and his crazy drive to succeed. Egan kobe was smart. Kobe was passionate. Kobe was dedicated. Kobe was driven. Determined, focused, unrelenting. Guthrie i think his image changed when he became a father. That softened him. I think it humbled him and really changed the perception of kobe the superstar. Markazi during our last conversation, i wondered why kobe wasnt at more games, and he said, like, ive done that. Ive played 20 years. At this point in my life, i want to be with my girls. I want to be with my daughters. He loved being with his kids. It seemed like gigi was the most like him, of his daughters. Sielski you could see that there was this shared love of basketball and this shared desire, on their parts, for her to be great at that. I was her teacher from the time she was in kindergarten, and she just had this fire inside of her. She wanted to be good. And she was. She was really growing as a basketball player. Costas kobe was always reinventing himself or pushing for more. Hes a film producer. Hes famously a girl dad, and it isnt just his own girls. Hes pushing for the idea of making the landscape better for women in sports. Hes finding new purposes for his life. He was just Getting Started in his postnba career with overseeing a storytelling company, overseeing a Sports Training facility at the mamba Sports Academy, Playing A Heavy Role in coaching. Smith kobe started the Sports Academy for gianna. It was all for gianna, because he saw that there was nothing out there for girls. Mauser i was working with kobe, doing a lot of the music for his childrens podcast called the punies. And through that relationship, kobe called me and said, christinas amazing. She was just really, really a good basketball coach. And he was blown away by her ability. And so he made her an offer. Originally, it was three days a week coaching at night. It ended up being like a year after that, about six, seven days a week and Basketball Tournaments every weekend. Obrien its january 26th, 2020, 9 06 a. M. Kobe bryant, his daughter, and seven others are heading toward camarillo for a basketball tournament. Kobe bryant was a frequent helicopter user, a frequent user of this particular charter company, and he much preferred this particular pilot, ara zobayan. Petitt this pilot had 8,200 hours of experience, which is a high level of experience for flying helicopters or any aircraft. Elam besides the pilot, kobe, and his 13yearold daughter gianna, there were also her teammates. There was alyssa altobelli, payton chester, paytons mom, sarah, and the altobelli parents, john and keri were on board, as well. And christina mauser. She was on board. Mauser christina was dedicated as a coach. She just had an ability to kind of intuitively be there for kids. Keri and john loved christina, and christina and keri were very close, christina and sarah were very close. It was like a family, you know, as close as a team could be. I had a show the night before. I got home around midnight, and we said goodnight. Christina was up waiting for me. And then she said, i have to be out the door by 7 00. I said, okay. So, she says, so if i dont see you all, ill be back by noon. I remember her kissing me, saying, i love you. And i was so tired, i didnt wake up. She walked out the door, and i heard the door shut, and i was gonna get up and say, hey, goodbye. And i just didnt. The weather that morning was not ideal for flight. It was foggy, and cloud cover was low, and the pilot knew that. Herrmann the pilot filled out his Safety Analysis two hours before he departed. Petitt the pilot should always assess the flight risks before taking off. The weather can change in 10 minutes, and they should have checked it prior to departure. I was actually in calabasas. I have never seen fog like that. Reporter the Helicopter Carrying Kobe and his daughter was headed to mamba Sports Academy in thousand oaks, california, for a Basketball Game. Markazi as much as you felt a connection with kobe, you really did feel that connection with gianna. There had begun to be these highlight reels on social media showing gianna playing the game. One of the things that really struck me is that kobe said, genetics are a real thing, man. Rao do you think you were born to do this . No question, no question. [ laughs ] i mean, this is this is in my blood. I mean, my father played, my uncle played, my grandparents played, my grandma played. So this is like, you know. This is what we do. Treatman i was very lucky to meet kobe bryant while i was hanging out with his father, joe bryant. I couldnt believe how fundamentally sound he was, this 14yearold kid, and i go, okay, joe, so, how good is kobe . He said, jeremy, hes gonna be so much better than me, its not even funny. Joe bryant played eight years in the nba, could do virtually anything on the Basketball Court. Lazenby kobes mother, pam, was a firebrand, and when she had this prized son with her two daughters, instinctively just locked in to advance the agenda of kobe. When kobe thinks of gigi playing, he smiled, and he talked about her, the way she bites her jersey or the way that she moves around the court, the way she thinks about the game. When is kobe, then, happiest away from the Basketball Floor . Oh, thats easy when im with my girls. Okay. When im with my girls. Im at my happiest when im with them. Riddell kobe bryant didnt do anything by halves, did he . The threepeat was just extraordinary. 2000, 2001, 2002. He didnt win anything in 2003, but, well, maybe he did because that was when his first daughter, natalia, was born. Kobe was very proud of natalia. And then next, kobe and vanessa had gianna. Riddell then there was a 10year gap, until 2016. Thats when bianca came. And then a fourth daughter in 2019, capri. Mauser any father with a daughter would tell you that those little girls just tear down all your macho and masculinity, and they were his world. I saw him as a parent. I saw him as a loving father and husband. And thats not something you can hide. I only saw kobe and vanessa when they were either at the arena or visiting the practice site. I could see that it was a young couple in love, and they were enamored with each other. Alexander kobe was their protector. He was their protector. And he loved them so much. Costas he was very serious when he said, im a girl dad. And it wasnt just a matter of image. He was interested in enhancing opportunities for girls and young women to play basketball and to be involved in other sports. Moshtaghian kobe was really invested in the community and really wanted to impact as many kids and children as he could. One of the things kobe did was bring underprivileged kids into basketball camps. Pincus he had had a camp in Santa Barbara where he was coaching, you know, a bunch of kids. And he gave a lot of love to that camp. Alexander its called kobe basketball academy, and it was held week of Fourth Of July in Santa Barbara university. He was really big on not breaking promises and disappointing kids. Like, that was one of the great things. And so he was there every second. Guthrie he knew that basketball had been his life and had transformed his life, and i think he genuinely wanted to give that back to kids who may not have had the opportunities that he had. And maybe people will say, oh, my gosh, hes ruthless on the court. But really, off the court, he was just one of the nicest guys. And i just saw his philanthropic side. Thats when Mamba Academy started. The mamba Sports Academy was a facility based in thousand oaks, california. It was a space for elite athletes to train. It also included youth sports. It also became a hub for aau programs to play games. And thats where giannas aau Basketball Team primarily played. Giannas passion for the game brought kobe back to the game that he loved. Lazenby kobe bryant became the standard for competitive spirit in the nba. Kobe had become that person in the minds of a generation of competitors. Smith people loved him because he won, and because he played with a passion few have ever seen. Then he became a villain when he was arrested. Cooper eagle county, colorados District Attorney charges nba all star kobe bryant with felony Sexual Assault. And suddenly, his life went from the kid, where he gave everything to the game, to this guy in the police photos. Tuchman hes accused of sexually assaulting a 19yearold woman on june 30th in a hotel here in eagle county, colorado. The woman is an employee of the hotel. It was a low moment, no matter which side of the story you accept or anything in between. Its a low moment in kobes life and career. Kobe ended up settling with his accuser. A personal attorney for the accuser tells us that the case the criminal case will be dropped. Smith and then it was over, and it was done. And it was stunning that it was done because it had gone on for so long. Lazenby kobe bryant always had displayed this tremendous will that allowed him to struggle and fight his way out of his own destruction. Guthrie kobe bryant, in describing the period of time in his life around the Sexual Assault case, described it as difficult, described it as dark, but, i think, felt he had gotten past it. He had gotten past it in his marriage with his wife, vanessa. Sielski kobe was on a bit of a Rehabilitation Tour when it came to his image after those charges, and he was fortunate in that there is a perception in our society. People want to see athletes and famous figures travel roads of redemption. And people in our country love that kind of story. I think that had him redouble his efforts on the court. It made him go even harder. He would reel off like 40, 50point games in a row. And it didnt even look like he was breaking a sweat. Markazi the 20072008 season was the year everything came together for kobe, and he was finally recognized as the most valuable player in the league. I dont think i ever saw kobe have any weak moment in his joy for the game itself. There was a love for the game that was ridiculous. And i dont think those around him ever saw anything but that same unbridled joy for his four children. Obrien from John Wayne Airport to Santa Ana Airport to Camarillo Airport is about 75 miles. In Los Angeles Traffic that morning, two hoursplus driving. 20 to 30 minutes in a helicopter. The exact mission with the exact same people was flown the day before, under much Better Weather circumstances. Petitt the pilot and one of the Operations Managers were standing outside, discussing the weather before they flew. And so they knew there was a problem. However, the habit of weve done it before, we can do it again kind of leads pilots to. To push, its okay. I just did it yesterday. Today wont be a problem either. Miles and so, on this morning with this low marine layer of fog and cloud, the pilot had to choose an alternate way to get there. So, instead of taking the more direct route, he went up toward the i5, toward burbank airport. Following the highway is allowed. Helicopters, pilots do it. Its a visual reference that orientates you to your location. But the fog was coming in. The visibility is worse than we thought. Obrien so, its 9 20 a. M. , and the pilot, ara zobayan, approaches the burbank airspace, and he requests to fly through it. And in order to do that, he needs to get special vfr clearance. Special visual flight rules theyre special requests to travel across that airspace. Schiavo for example, if your weather has taken a turn that you didnt expect, its just a simple request for an exception. Obrien its 9 32 a. M. Now, and the pilots been holding for 11 minutes in glendale. Petitt the 11minute hold it had to do with the weather conditions. Hes holding, hes not getting his clearance to go through. The longer he holds, its going to be getting worse. He finally gets cleared into the burbank airspace under special vfr rules. He should have taken that time and thought, this might not be a good idea. Lets go back. And theyre all coming . Those who are still with us, yes. Grandpa whats this . Your wings. Light em up gentlemen, its a beautiful. Day to fly. Bryant because people view it as being a gift, they put extra and extra burden on you. You know, you have an added responsibility to be able to do that every single night. At the same time, because theyre putting that burden on you, you work extra hard so that when you go out there and play and it looks good, people can take it as being a gift, you know, and they can sit back and enjoy the show. Sielski in the last few years of his nba career, kobe definitely softened. He softened to people around the nba. He softened to people who knew him off the court. And he became a softer figure regarding his family. We started learning about how he was working with gianna, working with her in the gym and showing her his incredible moves. And who knows what she wouldve become. I mean, she couldve been amazing. Obrien the pilot asks the controller for Flight Following Service as he transits through burbank. Flight following is best thought of in laymans terms of asking air Traffic Control to keep an eye on you. Theyre monitoring your progress, and they can actually see you on the radar. Schiavo its not unusual for a pilot to ask air Traffic Control for special vfr or for Flight Following. But when you put them all together, of course, in hindsight, a lot of factors are now starting to look very worrisome. Did the pilot know he was in trouble when he requested Flight Following . Yes, probably. You request Flight Following when youre feeling unsure of yourself. Obrien at 9 39 a. M. , the pilot is making the turn toward the 101 and ultimately camarillo. The controller advises him that he is headed in a direction that is outside of the reach of radar and also has spotty radio communication. Herrmann contact is terminated between air Traffic Control and the pilot. That effectively means that the pilot is on his own as hes traveling through this area. The pilots normally looking outside, flying by visual references, seeing the ground, following the freeway, looking at the mountains. Its rising terrain. And he gets closer and closer to the clouds. He was moving very quickly, about 160 miles an hour. He was now worried. I cant see the ground anymore. Im in clouds. I just better get altitude to save me. Now, of course, a pilot can choose to fly above the clouds, and thats perfectly legal if youre within the allowed altitudes. But you cant get to that airspace by going through the clouds. Flying into clouds is extremely dangerous. Not only because you could hit something you cant see, another plane or a mountain, but because it is prime condition for experiencing spatial disorientation. Obrien if you are flying through clouds, looking out the window is like looking into frosted glass. You have no sense of where the horizon is or where you are in space. And if you try to rely on that, using your eyes out the window, youre left with, basically, your inner ear. And your inner ear will fool you in that situation. Schiavo this situation on the kobe bryant helicopter is very similar to the situation on the jfk jr. Plane. Theyre both in the clouds, they cant see the horizon, and they experience this spatial disorientation. In other words, youre turning and descending when you think youre going straight and level and climbing. Its not an uncommon situation. Herrmann at 9 45, the pilot tells air Traffic Control that hes gonna go up and over the clouds up to 4,000 feet. Air Traffic Control asks him to ident. This would require the pilot to look down, turn his head, and push a button so that he can identify his helicopter to air Traffic Control. Schiavo and this is very crucial because that took his attention off of other instruments. That movement right there of moving your head to make the necessary adjustment. Obrien and he is quickly in a situation where he has no visual reference to the outside world. With a downward acceleration, you can easily feel like youre climbing. The pilot would have realized something was terribly wrong when he was in the clouds. He was already headed into an operation that was completely illegal. And he was climbing through clouds. Elam they said on radar, they could tell that he only made it to about 2,300 feet, and then the helicopter started to descend and made a sharp left. Herrmann he was experiencing spatial disorientation. You believe that you are climbing, but, in fact, you are rapidly desc