Reaction to the death of Kobe Bryant pours in from around the world.
Bryant was believed to be headed for his youth sports academy in nearby Thousand Oaks, which was holding a basketball tournament Sunday in which Bryant's daughter, known as Gigi, was competing.Īir traffic controllers noted poor visibility around Burbank to the north and Van Nuys to the northwest. The helicopter left Santa Ana in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, shortly after 9 a.m., heading north and then west. "It happened all the time in the winter months in L.A.," Deetz said. Several aviation experts said it is not uncommon for helicopter pilots to be given such permission, though some thought it unusual that it would be granted in airspace as busy as that over Los Angeles.īut Kurt Deetz, who flew for Bryant dozens of times in the same chopper that went down, said permission is often granted in the area. The weather was so foggy that the Los Angeles Police Department and the county sheriff's department had grounded their own choppers.ĭuration 2:08 NBA all-star Kobe Bryant, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, died in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, Calif. While the cause of the tragedy is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, some experts raised questions of whether the helicopter should have even been flying. and is consistent with the accident location.Ĭoroner's officials worked to recover victims' remains Monday from the hillside outside Los Angeles where the helicopter crashed, which aviation experts say may have been caused by the pilot becoming disoriented in the fog. Radar data indicates the helicopter climbed to 701 metres and then began a left descending turn. "When ATC asked what the pilot planned to do, there was no reply. The pilot then asked for air traffic controllers to provide "flight following" aid but was told the craft was too low, Homendy said.Ībout four minutes later, "the pilot advised they were climbing to avoid a cloud layer," she said. The pilot had asked for and received special clearance to fly in heavy fog just minutes before Sunday's crash and was flying at 427 metres when he went south and then west, said Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board, which went to the crash scene Monday to collect evidence.
The pilot of the helicopter that crashed into a hillside outside Los Angeles, killing former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant and eight others, told air traffic controllers in his last radio message that he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer, an accident investigator said Monday.
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