Five months after Kobe Bryant’s untimely death, new details are surfacing about his helicopter crash.
In a trove of new documents released Wednesday, National Transportation Safety Board officials said they believe pilot Ara Zobayan suffered spatial disorientation when the helicopter went down in Calabasas, killing all nine people aboard. Officials reported that Zobayan thought he was ascending when the plane was actually descending.
The documents claim that moments before the helicopter crashed into a mountainside, Zobayan told air traffic control that he was “climbing to 4,000 [feet].”
Air traffic control asked Zobayan what he was planning to do once he reached that altitude, but he never answered, since the helicopter had already crashed.
According to investigators, “the pilot could have misperceived both pitch and roll angles,” due to fog.
In February, the NTSB released a preliminary report noting that the helicopter was traveling at about 184 mph and descending at more than 4,000 feet per minute. It said Zobayan was navigating the flight with on-demand visual flight rules from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport.
The report stated that all the major components of the helicopter were found within the wreckage area, which was about “127 feet from the impact.” A post-crash fire damaged the entire fuselage, cabin, and both engines. The cockpit and flight controls also suffered extreme fragmentation, and the aircraft’s instruments were “displaced” from their panel, the report detailed.
By examining the main and tail rotor assemblies, the parts showed “damage consistent with powered rotation at the time of impact.” The rotor blades were also recovered, the report said, showing “similar damage consisting of midspan bending, pocket separation, blade tip separation, and leading-edge indentations and scuffing.”
Testimony from a witness who provided a photo of the burning helicopter five minutes after the crash was also included. The report revealed, “The witness stated that the area was surrounded by mist. He said he began to hear the sound of a helicopter, which he described as appropriate for a helicopter flying while in a powered condition. He perceived the sound getting louder and saw a blue and white helicopter emerge from the clouds passing from left to right directly to his left.”
It continued, “He judged it to be moving fast, traveling on a forward and descending trajectory. It started to roll to the left such that he caught a glimpse of its belly. He observed it for 1 to 2 seconds, before it impacted terrain about 50 feet below his position.”
A cause for the crash has not been determined. A more detailed report will be released later.
“Extra’s” Samantha Harris was on location in Calabasas just after the January 26 accident.
Harris spoke to Scott Daehlin, who was outside a nearby church just before the chopper went down. He described the chopper as hovering directly above him before moving off and crashing. Jerry Kocharian was also outside the church, and told Harris he heard the crash and saw smoke and fire in the distance.
Kobe’s wife Vanessa is suing Island Express, the helicopter’s owners, alleging the crash never should have happened.
The lawsuit claims the pilot made a series of errors, including failing to properly assess the weather and abort the flight due to foggy conditions. The suit also alleges that he failed to maintain control of the helicopter and to avoid “natural obstacles.”
The docs claim that in the last seconds of the flight, Zobayan “attempted to maneuver the helicopter up and forward to clear the clouds, then entered a turn sending the helicopter into the steep terrain at approximately 180 miles per hour.”
The grievance also states that the pilot “was required to fly only in conditions that he could navigate visually” and that Island Express’ “operating certificate limited its pilots to flying only under visual flight rules” and is “not licensed or certified to be flown into instrumental conditions.”
The papers insist Kobe “was killed as a direct result of the negligent conduct of Zobayan for which Defendant Island Express Helicopters is vicariously liable in all respects.”
Zobayan’s rep put the blame on the eight deceased passengers. In a statement, the rep said told TMZ, “Any injuries or damages to plaintiffs and/or their decedent were directly caused in full or in part by the negligence or fault of plaintiffs and/or their decedent, including their knowing and voluntary encounter with the risks involved, and that this negligence was a substantial factor in causing their purported damages, for which this answering defendant bears no responsibility.”
Island Express responded to the lawsuit, telling TMZ, “Kobe Bryant and GB [Gigi] had actual knowledge of all of the circumstances, particular dangers, and an appreciation of the risks involved and the magnitude thereof, and proceeded to encounter a known risk, and voluntarily assumed the risk of the accident, injury … thereby barring or reducing [Vanessa’s] claim for damages.”