Kobe Bryant Death: Pilot Disorientation Possible Due To Fog, Experts Say

Some experts have aired their thoughts on the possible causes of the helicopter crash that killed NBA great Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna Bryant, and seven others on Sunday. Several industry analysts said the foggy weather conditions on that day could have disoriented the chopper’s well-experienced pilot.

According to the Associated Press, some aviation and flight experts pointed out that disorientation is possible in such foggy conditions. These comments came amid investigations on how exactly the helicopter went down and what happened minutes or seconds before the tragedy.

Bryant’s pilot, Ara Zobayan, told air traffic controllers through radio message that a cloud layer was blocking the chopper’s path. He informed that he would attempt to climb to avoid the fog cluster.

Van Nuys airport helicopter flight instructor Randy Waldman argued that when disorientation hits a pilot, there are only seconds given to potentially avoid the diving motion of a chopper caught in low visibility situation.

Based on the radar records, the helicopter reached up to 2,300 feet before it spiraled down over 1,000 feet into a hillside near Los Angeles. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) visited that Calabasas crash site on Monday for evidence collection.

The NTSB’s Jennifer Homendy noted that the “debris field is pretty extensive.” She added that in its investigations on the potential causes of the crash, the research team will look at the chopper’s conditions, the day’s weather, and the pilot.

Zobayan, who has over 8,000 flight hours with the Island Express Helicopters, is a certified flight instructor and pilot. He is known to have been flying Bryant to different places and on the day of the crash, he was granted special permission to the retired NBA superstar and others.

CNN reported that even the Los Angeles Police Department opted to ground its choppers on Sunday morning due to very low visibility. Zobayan was granted special permission for the flight and the chopper was safe and capable of bringing Bryant and company to their destination.

On the other hand, some industry experts questioned whether it was fine to allow the chopper on the right in such foggy conditions. Some analysts argued that pilots who fly celebrities and other influential people sometimes take the risk even in low visibility conditions because flying people is their bread-and-butter.

Meanwhile, investigators revealed that there was no black box installed on the helicopter that killed the former Los Angeles Lakers player and others. According to the New York Times, investigators also recovered an iPad from the crash site.

The said iPad had a ForeFlight app installed on it. The app is being used widely by pilots for reviewing weather conditions and also has a flight plan feature.

Bryant is survived by his wife, Vanessa Laine Bryant, and their three other children.