Investigators have shared their findings in the fatal helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others—including his teenage daughter Gianna Bryant.
During a virtual meeting with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Feb. 9, investigators said that the pilot of the helicopter, Ara Zobayan, appeared to violate federal standards and is likely to have experienced “spatial disorientation” while flying through clouds on the foggy morning of Jan. 26, 2020. This disorientation, as described by NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt, is “the powerful, misleading sensations that can confuse a pilot conducting a visual flight who loses visual references, and what types of training can be effective in countering this effect.”
The Los Angeles Lakers legend was onboard a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter with Gianna, who was just 13 years old at the time of her death, and seven other individuals heading from Orange County to his Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif., when the crash occurred.
According to investigators, during the climb and subsequent dissent, the pilot communicated with air traffic control on numerous occasions but did not declare an emergency. The excessive speed entering the cloud at the rapid rate of decline and the left turn were inconsistent with his training, investigators said during the meeting.
One month after the crash, in February 2020, Vanessa filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Island Express Helicopters. E! News obtained court documents, which argued that Island Express, agents and employees and the pilot, had a “duty to use that degree of care that an ordinarily careful and prudent pilot would use under the same or similar circumstances.”
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Island Express Helicopters told E! News, “This was a tragic accident. We will have no comment on the pending litigation.”
