Security investigators said Tuesday that the pilot of a helicopter that crashed in Los Angeles last year and killed basketball star Kobe Bryant, his daughter and six others, flew through the clouds in a apparent violation of federal regulations and probably disoriented.
Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said pilot Ara Zobayan was flying under visual flight rules, meaning he needed to be able to see where he was going.
Zobayan flew the plane to climb hard and had almost broken the clouds when the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter crashed and crashed into the hills below, killing everyone on board.
The helicopter had no recording devices called “black box,” which were not necessary.
“I think everyone is looking at it because it’s Kobe,” said Ed Coleman, a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an expert in safety sciences.
Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and six other passengers were flying from Orange County to a youth basketball tournament at their Mamba Sports Academy in Ventura County on January 26, 2020, when the helicopter took off. encounter a thick fog in the San Fernando Valley. north of Los Angeles. The NTSB has said there were no signs of mechanical failure.
The NTSB, which met remotely on Tuesday, has no enforcement powers. It can only send suggestions to agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration or the U.S. Coast Guard, which have repeatedly rejected recommendations after other disasters.
Some observers have argued that it is recommended that helicopters have an alert and ground knowledge system, a device that indicates when an aircraft is in danger of colliding. The Bryant crash helicopter did not have the system, which the NTSB has recommended as mandatory for helicopters. The FAA only requires it for air ambulances.
Federal lawmakers have sponsored the Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act to force devices on all helicopters carrying six or more passengers. Former NTSB President James Hall said he hoped the FAA would require the systems as a result of the crash.
“Historically, it has required high-profile tragedies to advance the regulatory needle,” he said.
The devices cost more than $ 35,000 and require training and maintenance.
Helicopter Association International discouraged what he called a “one-size-fits-all” method. President and CEO James Viola said in a statement that requiring industry-specific equipment would be “ineffective” and “potentially dangerous.”
Although Zobayan was flying at low altitude in a mountainous area, the alert system may not have prevented the crash, Coleman said. The terrain could have triggered the alarm that was “constantly firing” and distracting the pilot or prompting him to turn down the volume or ignore him, ”he added.
Federal investigators said Zobayan, an experienced pilot who often flew Bryant, may have “misperceived” the angles at which he was going down and banking, which can happen when a pilot becomes disoriented with low visibility, according to NTSB documents.
The other murders were John Altobelli, baseball coach at Orange Coast College; his wife, Keri; his daughter Alyssa; Christina Mauser, who helped Bryant coach his daughter’s basketball team; and Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton. Alyssa and Payton were Gianna’s teammates.
The accident has generated lawsuits and counter-lawsuits. On the day a mass memorial service was held at the Staples Center, where Bryant played most of his career, Vanessa Bryant sued Zobayan and the companies that owned and operated the helicopter for negligence and unjust deaths. husband and daughter. Families of other victims sued the helicopter companies, but not the pilot.
Vanessa Bryant said Island Express Helicopters, which operated the plane, and its owner, Island Express Holding Corp, did not properly train or supervise Zobayan. He said the pilot was careless and careless about flying in fog and that he should have aborted the flight.
Zobayan’s brother said Kobe Bryant knew the risks of flying by helicopter and that his survivors are not entitled to damage to the pilot’s estate. Island Express Helicopters denied responsibility and said the crash was “an act of God” that he could not control. He also countered two FAA air traffic controllers, saying the crash was caused by his “series of erroneous acts and / or omissions.”
The consideration states that a driver unduly denied Zobayan’s request for “flight tracking” or radar assistance in the fog. Officials have said the driver terminated the service because the radar could not be maintained at the altitude the plane was flying.
According to the lawsuit, the driver said he would lose radar and communications soon, but no contact with radar was lost. When a second driver took over, the lawsuit said the first driver did not inform him about the helicopter and, as the radar services were not ending properly, the pilot believed they were following him.
Vanessa Bryant also sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, accusing lawmakers of sharing unauthorized photos of the crash site. California now has a state law that prohibits such conduct.