Federal Investigators Reveal Cause of Chopper Crash That Killed Kobe Bryant, Daughter, 7 Others…

by Tom Ozimek

Safety investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday that the pilot of a helicopter that crashed and killed Kobe Bryant and eight others last year flew through clouds in an apparent violation of federal standards and probably became disoriented.

NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said at a Feb. 9 hearing that the pilot, Ara Zobayan, flew the aircraft to climb sharply and had nearly broken through the clouds when the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter banked abruptly and plunged into the Southern California hills below, killing everyone on board, including Bryant and his thirteen-year-old daughter.

Sumwalt added that Zobayan was flying under visual flight rules, which meant that he needed to be able to see where he was going. Investigators also blamed the pilot for banking to the left instead of ascending straight up while trying to climb out of the bad weather.

Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and six other passengers were flying from Orange County to a youth basketball tournament at his Mamba Sports Academy in Ventura County on Jan. 26, 2020, when the helicopter encountered thick fog in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter banked abruptly and plunged into hills below, killing all nine aboard instantly before flames engulfed the wreckage.

The findings noted in Tuesday’s hearing echo the contents of a series of NTSB documents filed last year that examined various aspects of the crash and suggested Zobayan may have become disoriented in foggy conditions and experienced a condition known as “somatogravic illusion.”

While federal investigators did not determine the cause of the crash at the time, details found in the documents indicated that the pilot may have “misperceived” the helicopter’s position amid bad weather and not realized the craft was losing altitude.

Zobayan told air traffic control moments before the tragic accident that the helicopter was climbing, while it was actually descending, the NTSB documents indicate.

In adverse weather conditions, when a pilot is unable to use external visual cues and with insufficient attention to the helicopter’s instruments, he or she may become disoriented in what’s known as “somatogravic illusion.”…