Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crashed Because Pilot Flew Into Clouds, Against Guidelines
NTSB recommends stepped-up training in final report of last year’s fatal accident that killed the basketball icon and eight others
Kobe Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakers superstar and one of the greatest players in National Basketball Association history, died in a helicopter crash in January 2020. He was 41 years old. Photo: Associated Press (Originally published Jan. 27, 2020)
By
Andy Pasztor
Updated Feb. 9, 2021 3:21 pm ET
The fatal helicopter crash last year that killed basketball icon Kobe Bryant and eight others occurred primarily because the pilot became disoriented after flying into clouds, contrary to his company’s rules and appropriate safety precautions, according to federal investigators.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s findings, along with a number of industrywide recommendations to help chopper pilots prevent such accidents, were adopted as part of its final accident report during a hearing Tuesday morning. The board urged federal air-safety regulators and charter helicopter operators to rely on ground-based flight simulators to assist pilots in detecting signs of spatial disorientation and avoiding situations in which such dangers can arise
The board concluded that Ara Zobayan, an experienced pilot with a good safety record who had grown friendly with Mr. Bryant and his family while transporting them over several years, failed to follow federal flight rules and violated his own training by commanding the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter to dart through a thick cloud bank over a Los Angeles suburb.
The helicopter slammed into hilly terrain near Calabasas, Calif., and erupted into a fireball. Mr. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was among the victims.
Mr. Zobayan, flying under visual flight rules that required him to stay out of clouds, advised air-traffic controllers he was climbing to get above a cloud layer. Investigators told the board the pilot likely suffered spatial disorientation as the helicopter banked over a fog-shrouded hillside and went into a steep descent. Mr. Zobayan, who had barely a few hours of instrument flying documented in his log book, likely also was distracted by sending a radio transmission to controllers at the instant he lost visual cues, according to investigators.
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