CA - Kobe Bryant, 41, daughter GiGi, 13, & 7 others die in helicopter crash, Calabasas, 26 Jan 2020

[Gardenista]

The


Yeah I was counting while watching/listening to the flight radar video over and over - it happened fast. I was thinking how fast it was, but hoping it didn’t seem like an eternity to them.

The pilot sounded fine during the transmissions. I'm hoping they never knew anything was wrong.

 

[Oregonmama]

Live each day to your fullest, we never know when our time is up.... My condolences to all the families mourning their loved ones. So tragic...

 

[whitelilac]

NTSB on their way
NTSB_Newsroom on Twitter

 

[Gardenista]

Kobe Bryant's death: Live updates and remembrance

LAPD confirms that they had grounded their helicopters on Sunday morning
By Ben Poston
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Josh Rubenstein said that the department’s Air Support division grounded its helicopters Sunday morning due to foggy conditions and didn’t fly until later in the afternoon.

“The weather situation did not meet our minimum standards for flying,” Rubenstein said.

The fog “was enough that we were not flying.”LAPD’s flight minimums are 2 miles of visibility and an 800-foot cloud ceiling, he said. The department typically flies two helicopters when conditions allow -- one in the San Fernando Valley and one in the L.A. basin, he said.

 

[margarita25]

The pilot sounded fine during the transmissions. I'm hoping they never knew anything was wrong.

Exactly, even in his last transmission he sounded fine.

 

[whitelilac]

Exactly, even in his last transmission he sounded fine.

I don't know. There's a period of silence from the pilot while the air control is waiting for a response, and right after he says "you're still too low", the helicopter disappears from radar.

 

[Gardenista]

Kobe Bryant's helicopter was like his limousine and had a strong safety record, NBA star's former pilot says

 

[SuziQ]

Fog can be bad. One minute you can see, and the next thing you know you're driving through this blanket of white...not knowing when it's going to end.
I like to say it's like being in the Twilight Zone.

Last week we had a couple of bad foggy mornings here (central valley, california)
and I waited for it to clear before I left for work.

I was driving in fog once and had to pull over as I got vertigo. It was awful. I imagine that pilots can experience the same thing?

 

[JerseyGirl]

The helicopter was heading to Mamba Sports Academy, 1011 Rancho Conejo Blvd. in Newbury Park two basketball games, one scheduled for noon, the other for 2 p.m. All games at the academy were canceled.

After leaving the airport in Santa Ana at 9:06 a.m., the helicopter — which FlightRadar24 said was a Silkorsky S76-B with tail number N72EX — headed northwest in the direction of the 5 Freeway, staying to the west of that roadway.

the helicopter continued to follow the path of the 5 Freeway through the downtown LA area, heading up to Glendale.

The helicopter circled around the Glendale area waiting for guidance from air traffic control, according to reports.

The flight path shows the helicopter continuing to head north along the route of the 5 Freeway through Burbank, Sun Valley and Arleta.

At San Fernando Mission Boulevard near White Oak Avenue in the Granada Hills area, the helicopter started to head south through the Northridge, Chatsworth and Winnetka areas, flying over Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

It then headed west along the route of the 101 Freeway, making a turn to the south near Las Virgenes Road in the Calabasas area before crashing into a hillside near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street.

Map: Kobe Bryant helicopter route from takeoff to deadly crash – Daily News

 

[margarita25]

Dbm

 

[LadyL]

I mean if it's too dangerous for the police to fly, then why is anyone allowed to go up? Or was it fine at the beginning and got progressively worse?

 

[gregjrichards]

Sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones in this horrific tragedy. May all the victims Rest In Peace.

 

[MajorHoople]

Kobe Bryant's helicopter was like his limousine and had a strong safety record, NBA star's former pilot says

That's a very informative article. It even explains that the helicopter's number, N72EX used the callsign
"Two Echo X-ray" in the radio transmissions which are heard in the video link from this post:

CA - Kobe Bryant, 41, daughter GiGi,13, & 7 others die in helicopter crash, Calabasas, 26 Jan 2020

 

[JerseyGirl]

Death of Kobe Bryant - Wikipedia

 

[squareandrabbet]

How horrible. Parents and children out for a nice family day. I HOPE nobody knew their deaths were imminent.

 

[Jsizzle]

I mean if it's too dangerous for the police to fly, then why is anyone allowed to go up? Or was it fine at the beginning and got progressively worse?

I was thinking the same thing. But maybe where he took off it wasn’t that foggy? Didn’t realize how bad it was?

 

[BeachSky]

Mark Cuban has announced no Mavericks player will ever wear No. 24 again following Kobe Bryant's tragic death. https://twitter.com/MavsPR/sta...

 

[gregjrichards]

The Daily Mail website has published an article of Kobe’s former teammates like LeBron James crying on the airport tarmac that website has reached a new low. Photos should not be published of people grieving.

 

[Recidivist]

I was thinking the same thing. But maybe where he took off it wasn’t that foggy? Didn’t realize how bad it was?

Well, they left from Orange County airport, and I can say that it was foggy in OC this morning, and all day. This morning the fog was so low and heavy that it felt like rain.

 

[zecats]

I was thinking the same thing. But maybe where he took off it wasn’t that foggy? Didn’t realize how bad it was?

Sounds like that is the case. An article stating the pilot first ran into visibility problems over LA Zoo, maybe 15 minutes after taking off. Would there be a flight plan though and weather issues that were along the way?