January 26th 2020, the world would experience one of the most tragic losses of a legend that no matter where in the world, he was loved and respected. He was the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant.
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That morning, he was scheduled to depart from the John Wayne Airport in Orange County to his daughter’s tournament at his Sports Academy in Thousand.
Along with Kobe and his daughter Gianna
the group comprised of seven others including one of his daughter’s coaches and two of her teammates
Kobe Bryant developed the habit of taking a helicopter throughout his day in order to beat the LA traffic so he could both keep up with his schedule but most importantly to him, spend time with his daughters and wife https://youtu.be/ndGZU2BwAVY (36:21-38:00)
Taking a step back to January 25th 2020, the evening before around 5:24 pm, alleged messages according to the Los Angeles Times between Patti Taylor, operations manager at OC Helicopters and Island Express Helicopters pilot Ara Zobayan, among others, show that there was already scepticism about the weather conditions for traveling the following day.
Taylor would inquire about the weather, to which Zobayan would respond that he checked and it’s not the best day tomorrow but it is not as bad as it was the present day.
Taylor then sent out another message to other advising that the weather for the following day could be an issue, to which Zobayan confirmed he’d advise better on the weather early the following morning.
Zobayan as stated before is a veteran pilot for Island Express Helicopters
According to their website, the company is family owned and in operation since 1982
Their partners and clients span from some of the biggest companies and celebrities like Ferrari, Adidas, The Clippers,
And Kylie Jenner
So they’re no strangers to A-listers. The pilot in question who was to transport Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and the other members of the group, Zobayan,
was chief pilot for Island Express Helicopters. He also was a flight instructor, had more than 8,000 hours of flight time, and more importantly, he was trusted by Kobe as he would have frequently been the pilot for his helicopter travels
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/1/28/21112669/kobe-bryant-celebrity-pilots-pressure
Returning to the conversations on the evening of January 25th into the night. Around 6 pm Catherine Brady, Bryant family personal assistant, in a National Transportation Safety Board interview stated “That particular day, for Sunday, I actually changed the time the night before, probably around 6 or 7 p.m., because Kobe had decided he wanted to go to watch another team play before his game. So it was supposed to be a 9:45 departure, but the night before we changed it to a 9 a.m. departure.”
Kobe Bryant that night about 11:39 pm would send out a tweet in support of fellow basketball great Lebron James
Sunday, January 26th 2020 would arrive, the day Kobe Bryant would be taken from this world. Kobe began his day going to Mass before 7am at the Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church https://youtu.be/fFKdfQB6zaI (1:08-1:14)
Around 7:30 am Zobayan would breakdown the weather and flight trajectory with vice president of Island Express Helicopters and owner of the helicopter, Ric Webb https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (1:24-1:40)
Koby Bryant and the group arrived and boarded the helicopter, which was a N72EX model https://youtu.be/wnYipF79ulo (0:20-0:35)
At 9:06 am they were off and on their way, unaware the tragedy awaiting them along the route https://youtu.be/wnYipF79ulo (1:00-1:20) https://youtu.be/dXhLmc_POfE (0:02-0:11)
One main factor to take note at this point, was the condition of the weather. As it stood, the skies were overcast to the point where sight would have been impaired for anyone in the sky. It was so bad that on that day, police helicopters were grounded as they saw the danger of taking to the sky in those conditions https://youtu.be/1ofaAod-WoQ (0:52-1:00) To put things into perspective, an eyewitness described the fog as diving into a pool filled with milk and opening your eyes https://youtu.be/1ofaAod-WoQ (1:01-1:07)
So why did Zobayan still choose to fly and why was he allowed to fly if other helicopters were grounded? I guess that was the level of trust they had in his skill and maybe he didn’t want to disappoint Kobe as he trusted him so much as his pilot to get him from point A to point B. Whatever the reason, Zobayan pushed on through the skies. A recreated model of the flight pattern by a YouTube channel known as Steven Condas, shows what the view from the skies could have been early on in the flight and it shows the mass of fog up ahead
Comparing the simulation to an actual sighting of the helicopters by civilians, it can be seen how engulfed by the increasing fog the helicopter was becoming along its route
Still, Zobayan trusted his flight expertise and made the decision to continue on. Over audio with the flight tower, the pilot can be heard requesting Special VFR known as Special Visual Flight Rules, which is a request for him to operate under reduced visibility, so it wasn’t that he wasn’t aware of the diminishing visual due to the fog, but he believed he could still successfully make the trip https://youtu.be/SrkvY8h3KNA (1:27-1:37) This request was a way around the rejection of his first request for Visual Flight Rules due to the reduced visibility conditions https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (5:44-7:03)
At about 9:21 am, you hear the communication from Burbank air traffic controlling telling Zobayan to hold above the Glendale/Burbank area to avoid another aircraft in that airspace https://youtu.be/dcVK7uYJzO8 (0:48-1:07)
The pilot would circle above Glendale while awaiting approval to continue on along the best path. From below, civilians could see the copter circling for about 15 minutes before being instructed on the path to proceed along https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2yFg2FnaD9A https://youtu.be/dcVK7uYJzO8 (3:05-3:13) https://youtu.be/dcVK7uYJzO8 (3:54-4:08)
As Zobayan was directed and continued on, witnesses on the ground recall that around 9:44 am, they spotted the helicopter then about 3 seconds later it disappeared into a cluster of thick clouds https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (21:18-21:36)
Former Island Express Pilot, Kurt Deetz agrees that at this point, Zobayan’s visibility would be poor and a cause for concern https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (20:11-20:42)
Approximately one minute before the tragedy, the pilot would increase altitude to try and elevate above the fog. That decision reduced his visibility to almost zero
and he was forced to then fly using IMC which stands for Instrument Meteorological Conditions https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (22:39-23:00) At that point his sight is gone and he is dependent on using the instruments on the plane alone to navigate and fly safely
This would place Zobayan under IFR rules meaning Instrument Flight Rules, but the company was only certified to fly in Visual Flight Rules aka VFR
This places Zobayan in a serious predicament as he’s surrounded by the thick fog. Recreated scenes of what it may have looked like as he began his ascent into the clouds shows how scary and blinded it would have been trying to fly in that condition
Experts would investigate the pilots possible psychological state at this moment and two conditions were brought up. The first called Planned Continuation Bias which impairs the decision-making process by creating an unconscious bias to continue with the original plan even when conditions change https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (29:10-29:31) This may have been impacted by the pressure felt by Zobayan to complete the trip due to his personal friendship with Kobe Bryant
The second condition the pilot may have been experiencing was Spatial Orientation https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (31:54-32:35) This would have given Zobayan a false perception of their orientation and relative movement, making him unaware of their trajectory
This condition may be what was at play when the pilot would communicate to aviation personnel that he’s ascending to 4000 feet. In actuality what was happening was he ascended to 2300ft then the plane veered left and began plummeting at approximately 5000 ft per minute at 184 miles per hour https://youtu.be/jfJS8s7-hW4 (1:28-1:47) To Zobayan he’s probably under the perception he’s going upwards, but lost in his orientation due to no visibility, he was going down https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (32:37-33:10) This was heightened by the aviation personal requesting Zobayan to IDENT so they can follow him on the screen https://youtu.be/B0pQfgi9ZqU (3:55-4:02)
This would require the pilot to move his head to look towards the IDENT button to press and identify himself to the controller.
This is advised against in zero visibility as it increases the effects of spatial disorientation, further throwing off the pilot’s bearings https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (34:17-34:47)
By the time he would be able to see, it would be too late, for it would be the mountain in front of him as the helicopter crashed, scattered apart and went up in smoke https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89ntlg (11:20-11:32)
The radar on the aviation controller’s system disappeared upon the point of impact, signaling something seriously grave has occurred https://youtu.be/B0pQfgi9ZqU (4:17-4:25) Civilians would watch on from a distance seeing the smoke rise to the sky https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JdKZdpicrD0
While others heard the loud smash of the impact of the helicopter to the earth https://youtu.be/nL9XxwOUBMU (0:16-0:28) https://youtu.be/nL9XxwOUBMU (0:38-0:51) https://youtu.be/nL9XxwOUBMU (1:10-1:30)
Eyewitnesses would recall the last seconds before they heard the crash and described the helicopter sounding as if it were struggling before the impact https://youtu.be/SrkvY8h3KNA (1:09-1:17)
To the persons awaiting Kobe’s arrival, they were unbeknownst to what had happened and was checking up in the group chat if anyone got confirmation of Kobe landing, but the tracker no longer showed Ara Zobayan and the helicopter and no efforts to contact him was successful
They soon found out, just as the world, the tragedy that had struck. Kobe Bryant along with his daughter Gianna and everyone else on board the copter all passed away in a fiery crash
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Kobe Bryant’s autopsy among others would go public, showing how vicious the crash was, their bodies were basically unrecognizable and torn apart right down to brains being absent
But in all the chaos of how they went out, one thing brought some sense of solace if there was any to be had – it’s evident that they all would have died instantly and not suffered any form of pain.
Island Express Helicopters would temporarily suspend operations due to the tragedy
But the damage was already done. It sparked a look into their history, and it appears on numerous occasions their helicopters have been involved in accidents, causing injuries and even deaths dating as far back as 1985
According to The New York Times, records show that there was push back from the previous owner against recommendations for to tighten safety procedures on refueling, operating
rotors when passengers were boarding, and operations at a helipad in San Pedro, California as some pilots were feeling unsafe
What’s more, news reports state that with this current accident that took the life of Kobe Bryant and all in the helicopter, the copter didn’t have a Terrain Avoidance and Warning System aka TAWS which is a safety net to help reduce incidents like what had occurred https://youtu.be/jfJS8s7-hW4 (0:29-0:34)
If these reports hold true, it could spell more disasters in the future. In February 2020, Vanessa Bryant would file a wrongful death lawsuit against Island Express Helicopters alleging that pilot Ara Zobayan was negligent and careless, and that that negligence directly caused the death of Bryant and all nine people aboard died in the crash.
June 2021, news broke stating that Vanessa Bryant settled the wrongful death lawsuit against Island Express Helicopters
As if she didn’t have enough on her plate with the grief from her husband and daughter’s tragedy, she not only had to seek justice with the lawsuit, but launch another lawsuit against despicable acts by officers that arrived at the scene of the crash and took and shared photos of the deceased bodies https://youtu.be/0o4YQlwOpgA (0:00-0:13) They went as far as showing it off as a rank and something to brag about https://youtu.be/0o4YQlwOpgA (0:36-1:12) Vanessa Bryant would grant her and her family $16 million dollars in her win of the lawsuit https://youtu.be/V9qs3Q5tWHA (0:00-1:10)
Kobe Bryant gave his heart to the sport of basketball and achieved it all
Kobe Bryant changed the game of basketball. Kids and adults alike will forever shoot into the garbage cans shouting “Kobe!” He retired from the sport a legend and will forever remain a legend in our hearts and in the heart of basketball https://youtu.be/GTJwoWHMEw0 (16:15-17:02)
Rest in Peace Kobe Bryant, Gianna Bryant, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester, and Ada Zobayan
