Pilot in Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Was Disoriented

(CN) — The pilot of the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others on January 26 was disoriented by thick fog and misreported the craft’s pitch when it crashed in the Santa Monica Mountains, killing all passengers on board, according to a preliminary report by federal investigators released Wednesday.

Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died with seven other passengers and the pilot Ara Zobayan when their helicopter slammed into a hillside near Calabasas, California. The group had been headed to a youth basketball practice.

Moments before the crash, Zobayan reported to air traffic controllers that the helicopter was climbing above the clouds when in fact it was descending rapidly to the ground, according to the 1,700-page report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The day before the fatal crash, Patti Taylor of flight broker OC Helicopter said in text messages to Zobayan that weather could be an issue for the Jan. 26 charter flight.

“Just checked not the best day tomorrow but it is not as bad as today,” Zobayan, 50, replied to Taylor in a text, according to screenshots of the exchange included in the NTSB report. “Will advise on weather early morning.”

Taylor said in a letter to investigators the exchange with Zobayan about flight conditions was standard protocol and that Zobayan had cancelled many flights in the past due to weather conditions.

The morning of the flight, Taylor again asked Zobayan in a text if weather was suitable for the flight.

“Should be OK,” Zobayan replied.

But the helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76-B N72EX, stopped sending tracking alerts at 9:45am, sending executives of flight operator Island Express into a panic that concluded with confirmation of a crash near the craft’s last known location, the report said.

“I kept refreshing the tracker praying that it was just broken,” Taylor said in a log of events leading up to the crash.

A toxicology test on Zobayan’s remains concluded there was no drugs or alcohol detected in his body, the NTSB report said.

A spokesperson for Island Express did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the release of the report.

A final report from NTSB providing a conclusion on the cause of the crash will be published at a later date.

The families of Keri and John Altobelli, who were aboard the flight with their 13-year-old daughter Alyssa, and assistant coach Christina Mauser have sued flight operator Island Express Helicopters and the holding corporation alleging careless, negligent and unlawful conduct.

Bryant’s widow Vanessa has also sued the helicopter company separately claiming Zobayan flew directly into unsafe weather conditions and was authorized to do so by Island Express. She claims Zobayan’s negligent conduct resulted in the deaths of all aboard and says the company breached its duty to ensure the helicopter was flight-ready.

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