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

[Roselvr]

Awesome article; mostly about GiGi, of course Kobe is in it as well as the other girls who's lives and basketball were cut short. GiGi was going to take over the basketball world

The Haunting Reality of What Was Lost When Gianna Bryant Died With Dad Kobe Bryant in That Crash

Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant didn't get the chance to make her own history.

Her father Kobe Bryant's place in the record books, as one of the best to ever play the game of basketball, is set. His life ended preposterously too soon at the age of 41, but his 13-year-old daughter's life had barely begun.

And, oh, did father and daughter have plans.

A video making the rounds from a telecast of one of the NBA games they attended together after Kobe retired in 2016 shows him and Gianna—or Gigi, as she was familiarly known—sitting courtside, heads together as he breaks down the play they had just witnessed. She nods and, though you can't hear what she's saying, you see they've arrived at the same conclusion.

But that's what happens when you're coached by the greatest—you become an expert in your own right.

 

[Seattle1]

Not according to this report.

"The Coroner’s office said that all legal next of kin had been notified of their deaths.

All nine aboard the helicopter had already been identified by friends and family."

Gianna Bryant and the Final 4 Victims of the Fatal Helicopter Crash Officially Identified by Coroner

Huh? Legal notification to family members is not the equivalent of stating a family member was identifying the body of their loved one. This is not like TV.

(The headline is actually click-bait -- full read of the article is more clear that minor daughter and her adult stepbrother present).

The children also live in Orange County, CA which the UK publisher and author don't seem to understand is local.

And shame on the Sun for imposing on the elderly father/grandfather of the victims.

MOO

 

[scdiv]

Kobe Bryant once paid surprise visit to dying 5-year-old boy

https://nypost.com/2020/01/30/kobe-bryant-once-paid-surprise-visit-to-dying-5-year-old-boy/

 

[BeachSky]

Flight path simulation & audio

 

[Seattle1]

Listened to some tributes/interviews with Kobe's former teammates and sports broadcasters and it seems a consensus that KB had been flying by helicopter for many, many years -- almost daily in the way most others drive.

He flew to practice, games, and even to meet the team bus. Gathering his friends on Sunday and heading out on the chopper was no different to him than the mini-van carpool. Death needs no excuse.

MOO

 

[Luna20]

Awesome article; mostly about GiGi, of course Kobe is in it as well as the other girls who's lives and basketball were cut short. GiGi was going to take over the basketball world

The Haunting Reality of What Was Lost When Gianna Bryant Died With Dad Kobe Bryant in That Crash

Ive watched some of the games that Gigi was part of, definitely star athlete caliber. It’s sad that she didn’t get the chance to go further up the pro ranks. No doubt she would have been successful in her own right.

 

[rosemadderlake]

Damn,
Alexa, play “Say What” by Stevie Ray Vaughn.

For Kobe.

Soul to soul...

 

[mickey2942]

Listened to some tributes/interviews with Kobe's former teammates and sports broadcasters and it seems a consensus that KB had been flying by helicopter for many, many years -- almost daily in the way most others drive.

He flew to practice, games, and even to meet the team bus. Gathering his friends on Sunday and heading out on the chopper was no different to him than the mini-van carpool. Death needs no excuse.

MOO

Actually, it annoys me that a business, scrimped on saving money by not adding additional safety equipment that could have saved the lives of everyone. The low terrain alert system was not on this aircraft. Because, it was not mandated. Maybe it would not have saved him, but I bet he thought that the helicopter was completely safe.

Kobe Bryant's helicopter was missing a warning system that could have alerted pilot to hillside

 

[La Louve]

Irish pay tribute to Lakers hero Kobe Bryant after tragic death

Kobe was well known and quite the legend in Ireland. He had a huge fan base there. One of my friends named her little boy after him. Needless to say she's devastated. It's incredible how one person can touch so many hearts worldwide.

BBM You just reminded me of something.

Several years ago I came home for lunch from work one day and there was a little boy (probably no more than 5 or 6 y.o.) standing in the street near my mailbox crying. As I got out of my car, I asked him if he was okay. He burst out crying even harder and said he was lost - new in the neighborhood and couldn't remember where his house was. He was so scared and was crying so hard he could barely get his words out.

I asked him what his name was and he said "Kobe". I asked him if he was named for Kobe Bryant and he shook his head yes. I told him that Kobe was my favorite basketball player and together we would find his house. That seemed to melt his fear a little bit. He took hold of my hand and we walked down the street a few houses and he suddenly remembered his new house had a red door. Lo and behold, a few more houses down, and there was his house! He was so relieved and ran towards the house. Before he opened the door, he turned and thanked me. I saw him for a few more years, and he was getting really tall. I think the family moved away in the last year, but I still think about him and I hope he got to play basketball like his namesake.

 

[Arnie M]

Actually, it annoys me that a business, scrimped on saving money by not adding additional safety equipment that could have saved the lives of everyone. The low terrain alert system was not on this aircraft. Because, it was not mandated. Maybe it would not have saved him, but I bet he thought that the helicopter was completely safe.

Kobe Bryant's helicopter was missing a warning system that could have alerted pilot to hillside

.
Hi mickey2942 ..... in cases like this no ..... for the simple reason that helicopters typically fly low .... especially under low cloud ceilings (like this crash) and the system would be continually beeping warnings which would be very distractive to the pilot.

The majority of helicopter flight is done VFR ..... which stands for Visual Flight Rules .... which means the pilot uses the ground and horizon as references for the flight .... (they do not use instruments) ..... IFR (Instrument Flight Rules are most often used by airplanes flying through clouds or at night etc )

In this case the Bryant flight was operating under SVFR which means Special Visible Flight Rules .... which (in this case) was approved by the aircraft control towers which airspace they were flying through.

In this case "Special" means circumstances where cloud layers may be lower than typical VFR flight ... and the horizon may not be visible .... this is very common (and safe) for helicopters because they are flying low and slow to the ground and in theory could land almost anywhere if visibility deteriorated significantly.

The pilot was familiar with the area .... he had flown Bryant a dozen times to the Mamba Sport center .... but the day of the crash there was fog and he could not fly a direct route so he headed slightly East and North and ended up delayed near the Van Nuys airspace because there were at least two airplanes (flying on instruments) and they had to be cleared to land before the helicopter could continue ..... that is the reason the helicopter was circling for 12 minutes .... no big deal .... just a part of flying in controlled airspace.

Then he was cleared to continue and follow hwy 118 and then south to follow hwy 101 to the west .... this is a common flight route .... because the highway is easily visible and follows a valley which keeps the aircraft under the cloud layer. In another few minutes he would have been at the Camarillo airport , landed , and the passengers would drive/ride to the sports complex by car.
While following 101 fog was all of a sudden much lower to the ground .... pilot realized he would be losing ground reference .... so began a rapid increase in altitude to avoid a cloud layer .... then began a turn to the left and ended up impacting the ground .

 

[Seattle1]

.
Hi mickey2942 ..... in cases like this no ..... for the simple reason that helicopters typically fly low .... especially under low cloud ceilings (like this crash) and the system would be continually beeping warnings which would be very distractive to the pilot.

The majority of helicopter flight is done VFR ..... which stands for Visual Flight Rules .... which means the pilot uses the ground and horizon as references for the flight .... (they do not use instruments) ..... IFR (Instrument Flight Rules are most often used by airplanes flying through clouds or at night etc )

In this case the Bryant flight was operating under SVFR which means Special Visible Flight Rules .... which (in this case) was approved by the aircraft control towers which airspace they were flying through.

In this case "Special" means circumstances where cloud layers may be lower than typical VFR flight ... and the horizon may not be visible .... this is very common (and safe) for helicopters because they are flying low and slow to the ground and in theory could land almost anywhere if visibility deteriorated significantly.

The pilot was familiar with the area .... he had flown Bryant a dozen times to the Mamba Sport center .... but the day of the crash there was fog and he could not fly a direct route so he headed slightly East and North and ended up delayed near the Van Nuys airspace because there were at least two airplanes (flying on instruments) and they had to be cleared to land before the helicopter could continue ..... that is the reason the helicopter was circling for 12 minutes .... no big deal .... just a part of flying in controlled airspace.

Then he was cleared to continue and follow hwy 118 and then south to follow hwy 101 to the west .... this is a common flight route .... because the highway is easily visible and follows a valley which keeps the aircraft under the cloud layer. In another few minutes he would have been at the Camarillo airport , landed , and the passengers would drive/ride to the sports complex by car.
While following 101 fog was all of a sudden much lower to the ground .... pilot realized he would be losing ground reference .... so began a rapid increase in altitude to avoid a cloud layer .... then began a turn to the left and ended up impacting the ground .

Thanks for your great summary.

In my opinion, this helicopter was being used as intended. I think most that are familiar with the Sikorsky S76B agree that the TAS is not a mandate because this craft would seldom benefit compared to other models. And even if equipped with TAS - what's to say that the warning would have been recoverable in the situation the pilot and passengers were in.

More important than TAS -- it's just been revealed that while the pilot was double IFR certified, he could not have flown IFR in this bird because the charter company did not have the FAA certification that would allow him to fly using instruments.

And before everyone pounces on the charter -- there's not one helicopter charter in Southern California that has bothered to secure FAA Certification to fly IFR. In fact -- not even the police helicopters have it not only because of the cost-- but because it's normally so simple to navigate at low altitude in Southern California, with its easy-to-follow freeways and sunny weather. As I said before -- they were flying this helicopter model pretty much as intended.

MOO

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

BBM You just reminded me of something.

Several years ago I came home for lunch from work one day and there was a little boy (probably no more than 5 or 6 y.o.) standing in the street near my mailbox crying. As I got out of my car, I asked him if he was okay. He burst out crying even harder and said he was lost - new in the neighborhood and couldn't remember where his house was. He was so scared and was crying so hard he could barely get his words out.

I asked him what his name was and he said "Kobe". I asked him if he was named for Kobe Bryant and he shook his head yes. I told him that Kobe was my favorite basketball player and together we would find his house. That seemed to melt his fear a little bit. He took hold of my hand and we walked down the street a few houses and he suddenly remembered his new house had a red door. Lo and behold, a few more houses down, and there was his house! He was so relieved and ran towards the house. Before he opened the door, he turned and thanked me. I saw him for a few more years, and he was getting really tall. I think the family moved away in the last year, but I still think about him and I hope he got to play basketball like his namesake.

That's such a lovely story La Louve.

 

[rosemadderlake]

It sinks in that three little girls are lost. Gone forever.

I know this loss - my sister.

My other sister and I keep the torch.

Thirteen is a power age. It’s often when greatness blooms.

To every parent, hold on tight. I know you will.

To our girls, especially on the B Ball court, I have a feeling some nice heros are going to step in. And keep the Mamba going. I love love love that concept. It’s a boost, far reaching —coast to coast, like at the senior center in NJ!

We love our hero’s greatness and flaws, too. Afterall, they are mortal.

There are athletes, but Kobe was poetry in motion. Basketball is a sport best enjoyed live. I can’t keep up on the Telly. Too fast!

B Ball, it’s a dance, a great dance. Kobe left his career on film too, for everyone. Especially our girls. ...All our kids.

What did Kobe know? Among many things, he really knew the power of his earthly body. And to strive for that is a beautiful gift! He was joyous to watch.

 

[scdiv]

Helicopter charter company suspends flights after crash that killed Kobe Bryant

https://nypost.com/2020/01/31/helic...-flights-after-crash-that-killed-kobe-bryant/

The charter company that owns the helicopter Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were traveling in when it crashed, killing all nine people on board, suspended all of their services after the accident.

The company, Island Express Helicopter, announced they had grounded all of their flights in a statement posted to their website on Thursday.

“All services (regular and charter) were immediately suspended following the tragic accident on Sunday, January 26,” they wrote.

“The shock of the accident affected all staff, and management decided that service would be suspended until such time as it was deemed appropriate for staff and customers,” they added in the statement.

 

[BeachSky]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-31/the-last-moments-of-kobe-bryants-flight-raise-perplexing-questions-on-cause-of-crash?_amp=true
article out today ...more questions

The helicopter then climbed rapidly_roughly 875 feet in less than one minute_slowing to 125 mph

 

[whatsnext]

Helicopter charter company suspends flights after crash that killed Kobe Bryant

https://nypost.com/2020/01/31/helic...-flights-after-crash-that-killed-kobe-bryant/

The charter company that owns the helicopter Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were traveling in when it crashed, killing all nine people on board, suspended all of their services after the accident.

The company, Island Express Helicopter, announced they had grounded all of their flights in a statement posted to their website on Thursday.

“All services (regular and charter) were immediately suspended following the tragic accident on Sunday, January 26,” they wrote.

“The shock of the accident affected all staff, and management decided that service would be suspended until such time as it was deemed appropriate for staff and customers,” they added in the statement.

That's a very reasonable decision .

 

[Cryptic]

In my opinion, this helicopter was being used as intended.

One thing I am curious about is the lack of a co-pilot despite the helicopter being relatively large by civilian standards.

Every commercial aircraft that I have flown on, including small turbo props, has had a co-pilot. I have never been on a chartered flight of any kind. This flight lacked a co-pilot.

Do you know anything about the rules for co-pilots. Are truly commercial flights required to have them regardless of size?

Likewise, are the co-pilot rules different for charter aircraft? Is this due to the fact that they are private charter (perhaps a greater assumed risk) and not truly commercial in the same sense of ticket sales?

And even if equipped with TAS - what's to say that the warning would have been recoverable in the situation the pilot and passengers were in.

​

I think this is a very good point.

My impression is that the general area has a lot of ranges of hills and that the particular area could be enclosed by hills if one deviated from the common flight paths.

Thus, it seems very possible that an alert from a warning system could lead to the pilot taking sudden action to avoid one hill- only to accidently fly into another one.

 

[La Louve]

It sinks in that three little girls are lost. Gone forever.

I know this loss - my sister.

My other sister and I keep the torch.

Thirteen is a power age. It’s often when greatness blooms.

To every parent, hold on tight. I know you will.

To our girls, especially on the B Ball court, I have a feeling some nice heros are going to step in. And keep the Mamba going. I love love love that concept. It’s a boost, far reaching —coast to coast, like at the senior center in NJ!

We love our hero’s greatness and flaws, too. Afterall, they are mortal.

There are athletes, but Kobe was poetry in motion. Basketball is a sport best enjoyed live. I can’t keep up on the Telly. Too fast!

B Ball, it’s a dance, a great dance. Kobe left his career on film too, for everyone. Especially our girls. ...All our kids.

What did Kobe know? Among many things, he really knew the power of his earthly body. And to strive for that is a beautiful gift! He was joyous to watch.

What a lovely post, Rose.

 

[mister happy]

I live in L. A. and it's like the whole city is in mourning. People are wearing Kobe jerseys and some are in full uniforms. Murals are being painted. Even the MTA transit buses have "RIP Kobe" programmed into their electronic destination signs.

 

[8771]

.
While following 101 fog was all of a sudden much lower to the ground .... pilot realized he would be losing ground reference .... so began a rapid increase in altitude to avoid a cloud layer .... then began a turn to the left and ended up impacting the ground .

That was a very interesting read, thank you! Are you assuming the final left turn was a mistake of direction due to flying an unfamiliar route? Curious why he felt comfortable to continue and/or decide to go in that direction if he wasn't sure where he was exactly ... I'm asking you because you sound pretty well informed on the subject! Thanks for your input.