Kobe's chopper crash baffles

Investigators consider all possibilities that led to accident despite pilot's stellar safety CV

A man polishing a mural of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, which was painted soon after their deaths, on a basketball court of a housing block in Taguig City in Metro Manila yesterday. Basketball fans around the world have been mourning the demise of the NBA great. PHOTO: REUTERS

CALABASAS (California) • The helicopter carrying National Basketball Association legend Kobe Bryant on Sunday morning circled over a golf course in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, awaiting clearance from air traffic controllers to continue its flight into the hills.

The weather in Orange County, where the helicopter had departed less than an hour earlier, had been fine with 6.4km visibility. Bryant had routinely made the same flight from his Newport Coast home to Camarillo Airport, near his basketball academy north of Los Angeles.

But up ahead, a fog so thick it nearly blinded drivers on the freeway enveloped the hills near their destination.

Visibility was so poor that Los Angeles police grounded its fleet of helicopters and one witness, Scott Daehlin, claimed it was "as thick as swimming in a pool of milk".

The pilot, Ara Zobayan, had a decision to make, one that might have proved fatal. Zobayan, who by all accounts had a sterling safety record and was licensed to fly in inclement weather, kept going.

After last contacting air traffic controllers at 9.45am local time, the helicopter slammed into a hillside at an altitude of 330m.

On Monday, investigators were trying to figure out what went wrong, and they emphasised that no possibility, including a mechanical problem, had been ruled out.

"We take a broad look at everything around an investigation, an accident," Jennifer Homendy, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said. "We look at man, machine and the environment, and weather is just a small portion of that."

The helicopter was not carrying a cockpit voice recorder, and investigators have been searching a debris field, trying to recover perishable evidence, she added.

According to celebrity website TMZ, investigators are also looking at an iPad that was used for the flight itinerary, while the NTSB has requested the public's help in providing photos of the weather to determine the flying conditions.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials are not expected to reach a conclusion on the cause of the accident for months, although TMZ said Zobayan was flying "way too low".

Asked whether anyone could have survived the crash, Homendy replied: "It was a pretty devastating accident scene."

Like many celebrities and business tycoons, Bryant had long moved around Southern California by helicopter to avoid the area's infamous traffic jams.

In an old interview, he said flying meant he did not have to "compromise family time".

During his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, he would often fly to home games at the Staples Centre in the city's downtown.

On the day of the crash he was on his way to a basketball event he was coaching at the training camp he co-founded in Calabasas.

On board with him was the second-oldest of his four daughters, 13-year-old Gianna, a prodigious player whom many had predicted a future in the Women's National Basketball Association.

The crash also killed two of her teammates, an assistant coach, the pilot and three other adults - one of whom was a college baseball coach.

The morning flight was uneventful at first. When the helicopter reached Burbank, air traffic controllers kept it circling for 12 minutes, according to the NTSB.

They then issued a special visual clearance for Bryant's flight to pass through their airspace under less-than-optimal visual conditions.

The assumption was Zobayan would maintain legal clearance from clouds, or seek clearance to fly on instruments. But there were no further communications, until witnesses called the emergency hotline 911, reporting a massive fire.

It has since turned out Zobayan, who has held a commercial license since 2007, had not obtained a clearance to fly under instrument flight rules, which would have allowed him to navigate with the use of his instruments.

The special clearance allowed the pilot to fly through the controlled airspace around Burbank, but it did not give him "blanket clearance" to continue on, an FAA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss details of the probe, said.

It would have been up to Zobayan to either make sure there were appropriate visual flight conditions, or transition to flying solely with the use of instruments.

In an audio recording of the helicopter's last communication with controllers, it was revealed the aircraft was "too low for flight following", and so controllers could not track its flight and thus highlight any traffic hazards.

Zobayan had flown Bryant before and was not only certified to fly under instrument conditions, but also to teach other pilots seeking to obtain their own instrument ratings.

A source told People magazine the 50-year-old was so trusted by the former Laker that he "only" flew in an aircraft piloted by him.

He also had no accidents or enforcement actions on his record, according to the FAA, and the accident has left his peers baffled as he was "an experienced and meticulous operator".

NY TIMES

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 29, 2020, with the headline Kobe's chopper crash baffles. Subscribe