MINUTES FROM DOOM
KOBE Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna lost their lives in a "totally avoidable" helicopter accident, according to one aviation expert.
Pilot, aeronautical engineer and former airline executive Robert Ditchey said nine deaths could have been avoided as an investigation into the crash continues.
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His comments came as new footage emerged apparently show Bryant's chopper circling, minutes before the fatal smash.
Ditchey told USA Today: "This was totally avoidable, and on the part of some people I can go as far as to say irresponsible.
"Here’s one of the most important people in the world who comes to a tragic end like this and you say, ‘Why? What the hell happened?’’’
“They’re in the fog, and you’re down hugging the ground trying to fly up the highway and barely able to see it.
"He’s down only 100 feet or so above the ground. In that area of the San Fernando Valley you have mountains on either side of you … and the clouds have obscured them, and you don’t have that much room to maneuver."
“The weather is not good enough for the police to fly,’’ Ditchey added. “Why should Kobe do it?’’
All nine bodies have now been recovered from the crash site while new video apparently taken minutes before the death plunge has emerged.
New footage said to be taken the day Kobe Bryant died shows a chopper circling overheard, according to Reuters news agency.
The video, posted on Twitter Sunday by @theironlydreams, claims to show the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter flying around in circles in mid-air at the same time and same path of Kobe's flight.
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Kobe and eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, died just before 10am Sunday when their helicopter crashed into a hillside in Calabasas.
What we know so far
- Nine bodies have now been recovered from the wreckage
- Looters have forced police to launch mounted patrols
- In a chilling last message pilot Ara Zobayan said he was struggling to avoid clouds
- He would have made the final decision on whether to fly in thick fog
- Another witness, Scott Daehlin, said those on board wouldn't have suffered
- The Los Angeles Lakers game against city rivals the clippers was canceled
The chopper’s pilot, Ara Zoboyan, had circled the airspace over Glendale several times after the foggy weather conditions in the area worsened after takeoff.
When the helicopter approached Burbank around 9.15am, the pilot circled in the air, keeping in constant contact with air traffic control.
After going round for about 15 minutes, while air traffic control cleared the air space, the chopper set off for its final destination in thick fog.
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The user who posted the video Sunday tweeted: “I try and video /photograph all the weird stuff happening above my house in Glendale,CA.”
“Unfortunately this morning I didn’t realize I was filming the helicopter Kobe Bryant, his daughter and others were in 31 minutes before they crashed . RIP.”
According to Reuters, the footage was filmed at 9.29am in Glendale's Vineyard neighborhood and appears to align with the flight path of Kobe's helicopter ride.
The news agency cited metadata from the phone used to take the video.
Video verification company Storyful believes they have confirmed the footage is of Bryant's helicopter, by verifying the location of filming and lining up the flight path with the metadata.
The route of the helicopter did bring the aircraft into the airspace above the house of the person who posted the video to Twitter.
That area is not a common place for helicopters of airplanes to hold either and in most cases, the aircraft would fly through the valley and instead circle the airport.
Flight records also show that the helicopter was circling at a height of 600 feet around this time, which the video reflects, and the cloud cover and fog matches up with the forecast for Sunday morning in that area.
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The helicopter ultimately plunged into a hillside at 9.45am Sunday, with an impact that scattered debris over an area the size of a football field and killed everyone aboard.
Audio between the pilot, Ara Zobayan, and air traffic control reveal they were attempting to guide the helicopter, but lost contact moments before its fatal fall.
At 9.39am, the pilot asked air traffic control if he had been approved to turn southwest.
There was no communication for almost two minutes, at which time the tower asked the pilot to identify his aircraft.
At this point, the helicopter had begun its ascent.
After reaching close to 1,500 feet, it began to pull back down again, allowing the tower to communicate again at 9.42am when they tried to confirm that the helicopter was on the correct frequency.
Forty seconds before the crash, air traffic said: "You're still too low for flight following at this time."
In a final chilling message to controllers, Zobayan said he was struggling to avoid cloud before plunging into a hillside, a crash investigator revealed.
The flaming wreckage from the helicopter caused a crater 1000ft down the rugged terrain.
Zobayan was certified to fly in foggy weather and would have had a say on whether to fly or not, the Federal Aviation Administration told The Sun.
'HUGE FIREBALL'
One witness who was on a mountain bike said: "Out of the fog came a helicopter and it slammed into the mountainside about 200 feet from where we were standing."
"We were close enough that we could feel the air from the propellers. There was a huge fireball."
"One of the helicopter doors landed about 10 to 15 feet away from us. Helicopter parts were flying everywhere. There was very little left of the helicopter."
He added: "We didn't realize that Kobe Bryant was in the helicopter until we got back down to the parking lot."
"Just the fact that a whole helicopter full of people crashed was shocking to us."
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Another witness, Scott Daehlin, said he saw the chopper "100, 150 feet" above him and that those on board wouldn't have suffered when it crashed.
"My alarm bells went off because I thought, ‘This is awfully low,'” he told Extra.
"You could hear the crushing, collapsing of fiberglass, Plexiglas. It just all stopped. I hope that the occupants didn’t suffer because it was very, very quick."
National Transportation Safety Board Investigator Jennifer Homedy said radar indicated the helicopter reached 2,300 feet before it began descending, with wreckage found at 1,085 feet.
About 20 NTSB investigators were at the crash site in Calabasas collecting evidence and Homendy said debris was spread over a large area.
"A piece of the tail is down the hill," she said.
"The fuselage is on the other side of that hill. And then the main rotor is about 100 yards beyond that."
BODIES RECOVERED
Mountain police officers have been actively patrolling the area of the crash in search of looters — as responders work to recover the bodies.
The remains of three of the deceased have been taken away from the Los Angeles hillside and will undergo coroner's office examinations in the coming days.
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The rugged terrain near the crash site in California has made the ongoing search difficult for first responders, who toiled into the late hours of Sunday evening.
Police have asked fans and curious passersby to stay away from the crash site to avoid interfering with the investigation.
Kobe was known since his playing days to travel frequently by helicopter to avoid the Los Angeles area's infamous traffic.
The legendary NBA star and his daughter were flying to Kobe's Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, where they had played on Saturday, at the time of the crash.
They died alongside college baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri, and their daughter Alyssa, Christina Mauser, a coach at Mamba Sports Academy, passengers Sarah and Payton Chester and pilot Zobayan.
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Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, reportedly maintained a pact not to fly in helicopters together in case there was an accident.
"He and Vanessa had a deal that they would never fly on a helicopter together," a source told People.
Another source added Kobe would only ever fly with Zobaya and that he liked taking helicopters because they were quicker and he could spend more time with his family.
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In 2018, Kobe told Alex Rodriguez: “I was sitting in traffic and I wound up missing like a school play.”
“I had to figure out a way where I could still train and focus on the craft but still not compromise family time.”
“So that’s when I looked into helicopters, to be able to get down and back in 15 minutes and that’s when it started,” he added.
A LEGEND LOST
Throughout his career, Kobe won five NBA championships, appeared in seven NBA Finals, and is the league's fourth-highest all-time scorer in history.
He is the only NBA player to have both of his jersey numbers retired — the future Hall of Famer wore No. 8 for the first 10 years of his career and No. 24 for the latter half.
Since the news of his death, celebrities have shown an outpouring of grief and support for the fallen basketball legend and his mourning family.
In an interview published in November for Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper, Kobe also shared that out of all of his numerous accomplishments, being a father was the most important.
He said: “Being a father is the thing I am most proud of in this world; it’s my greatest accomplishment.”
“I’ve learned so much, but perhaps the most profound thing has been the fierce, unconditional love you have for your children when you become a parent.
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“I’m blessed to have had that experience four times now and there’s nothing more powerful in this world.”
Kobe spent his last night with Gianna and his 3-year-old daugher, Bianka, at his local Starbucks.
The trio was spotted at the coffee shop at a mall in Newport Coast, California, where Gianna ran instead to grab their order.
Local mom Jennifer Orcholski, 52, told The Sun she bumped into Kobe and Bianka outside the Starbucks on Saturday night, just hours before the fatal accident.
A Starbucks worker confirmed that Kobe was a regular at the store, which was located near his home, and had popped by on Saturday evening at around 7pm.
"I remember seeing the name Kobe on the order and expecting them to come in," the Starbucks worker said.
It was Gianna who came in and got the order, she would often run in for them while he waited outside or in the car."
"When I heard the news on Sunday morning I did not believe it, I was like, 'No it can't be them, I just saw them."
Kobe is survived by Vanessa, 37, and their daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, and Capri, who was born in June 2019.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Among those who mourned Kobe were Michael Jordan, President Donald Trump, Usain Bolt, Jimmy Kimmel, and Barack Obama.
The Lakers' game against city rivals the Clippers scheduled for tonight has been postponed as Los Angeles continues to mourn.
The teams were due to meet in LA's Staples Center, where fans have been gathering to pay their respects, turning the area a flood of yellow and purple.
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