RIP Kobe Bryant

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The relevant facts as we know them so far:

WHO: A pilot and eight passengers.
• Altobelli, Alyssa
• Altobelli, John
• Altobelli, Keri
• Bryant, Gianna
• Bryant, Kobe Bean
• Chester, Payton
• Chester, Sarah
• Mauser, Christina
• Zobayan, Ara (Pilot)

WHAT: A helicopter crashed, killing all 9 people aboard.
• Helicopter designation was "Two Echo X-Ray" ("2EX")
• The helicopter was a 19-year old Sikorsky S-76B, with twin Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6B-36B turboshaft engines, four-bladed main and tail rotors and retractable landing gear, with seating for up to 11 (2 pilots and 9 passengers).
• The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter that crashed is registered to Island Express Holding Corp. in Van Nuys.

WHEN: 2020/01/26. The 911 call came in at 0947h PST.
• The flight originated from John Wayne Airport in Orange County at 0908 PST.

WHERE: Into the side of a hill in rugged, mountainous terrain near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street near Calabasas, California, USA.

HOW: The exact circumstances surrounding the crash are mostly unknown at this time.

WHY: The exact circumstances surrounding the crash are mostly unknown at this time.

COMMENTS: An investigation is ongoing.
• An 18-member team from the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, including the history of the pilot and the maintenance record of the aircraft.
• The FAA has restricted the airspace above the crash site to an altitude of 5000 feet (1.53 km) and a distance of 5 miles (8.47 km) from the crash site.
• As of 1805 PST on 2020/01/26, CalTrans closed both the north and southbound US-101 Fwy off-ramps to Las Virgenes Road due to the ongoing investigation; also closed were Las Virgenes Road between Agoura Road and Lost Hills Road.
• Officials in Los Angeles said late Sunday that dense fog in Southern California likely played a role -- Visibility was so low Sunday morning that the Los Angeles Police Department and the county sheriff's department grounded their helicopters.
• The helicopter was operating under special visual flight rules -- an SVFR clearance allows a pilot to fly in weather conditions worse than those allowed for standard visual flight rules (VFR).
• The Burbank Airport control tower allowed the helicopter to proceed northeast, following the Interstate 5 highway, using the SVFR clearance. -- "Maintain special VFR at or below 2,500" the pilot confirmed to the controller.
• Later in the flight, the pilot apparently asked for "flight following", a service in which controllers are in regular contact with an aircraft.
• The controller was recorded telling the pilot "2 echo X-ray, you're still too low level for flight following at this time."
• Radar data shows that shortly after 9:40 a.m., the helicopter turned again, toward the southeast, and climbed to more than 2,000 feet. It then descended and crashed into the hillside at about 1400 feet.
• Radar data shows that when it struck the ground, the helicopter was flying at about 184 mph and descending at a rate of more than 4,000 feet per minute.
• Eyewitnesses reported the helicopter may have had engine trouble, and that it went down at a sharp angle.
• The last transmission to the helicopter from the Burbank airport tower was "Are you VFR condition? You're too low." The pilot never replied.

Thank you, Fnord, clear and concise information is very much appreciated.

I do believe that all emergency personnel and all flight personnel will be haunted by this tragedy, though they have done and are doing their very best.

The ground investigators will carry horrible memories the rest of their lives, God bless them for what they are going through.

Last edited by Sylkat on 27 Jan 2020, 6:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Still can't believe that happened. Terrible tragedy.

+1


RIP to a true mvp

You're welcome. Drama-based journalism stirs people's emotions in a negative way. Unfortunately, it also sells advertising space. Fact-based reporting, on the other hand, gets the news to the people.

The dead deserve greater remembrance than head-shots and sound-bites of grief from random fans. They deserve to have their lives celebrated, not mourned. The survivors deserve our support, as well. Did you know that there is a Mrs. Bryant and three more children in Newport Beach who have to deal with two deaths in the family? These are relevant details.

But don't tell that to the news journalists; they won't listen. They care only with providing 'exclusive' details before anyone else does. I swear, I heard two TV journalists discussing Mr. Bryant's shoe size as if it was somehow relevant to the crash. Ridiculous.

^
Probably reporting on Kobe Bryant's shoe size would keep more viewers watching than discussing the nonfamous people killed in the crash. Not cool but that's how it is.

When I was in high school, we had a moment of silence the Monday after Selena died.

We’ll miss you, Kobe, Gianna, and everyone else lost.

A couple of dumb female reporters let their prejudice slip to the surface while reporting on the tragic death of Bryant and his daughter.

Both in hiding after receiving death threats
https://www.ntnews.com.au/entertainment ... bdcd9f771d

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/busi ... onmez.html

at least one close witness said he heard a sputtering engine just before the crash. i wonder what would cause a gas turbine engine to sputter?

The authorities are blaming the pilot for flying into a fog
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 layer of cloud, an accident investigator said on Monday.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/ ... 30294.html

i guess he didn't climb fast enough, or it was a combo of water particular ingestion quenching the combustion of fuel in the engine, compounded by excess load caused by excessive rate of climb.

i have read of way too many aviation prangs caused by flying in inclement weather.

I am not the least bit surprised that you interjected racism into this.

This was a nice tribute thread until...

I read and listened to the links you posted. I heard the word, I have to say that only a moron would use the N word intentionally. It sounded more like Nickers than Nakers. We live in a society that's looking for any excuse to pounce. Does the woman have a history of racist remarks? If she doesn't, do you think it's likely that she got her words mixed up? People do that all the time, accidentally putting two words together as they are trying to figure out which one they want to say.

The second one I don't agree with at all. But I don't think it was motivated by race, as much as 'feminism.' God forbid a guy has friends and fans who are sad he passed away in a tragic accident, so lets remind them of a mark on his otherwise amazing career. Very poor form and she should pay a fine, as well as being suspended.

I think she just got tongue tied and confused Knicks and Lakers,thats all.

The relevant facts as we know them so far (revised and updated):

WHO: A pilot and eight passengers.

• Altobelli, Alyssa (Daughter of John and Keri, teammate of Gianna)

• Altobelli, John (Orange Coast College head baseball coach)

• Altobelli, Keri (Wife of John)

• Bryant, Gianna (Daughter of Kobe)

• Bryant, Kobe Bean

• Chester, Payton (Sarah's daughter, and teammate of Gianna)

• Chester, Sarah (Payton's mother)

• Mauser, Christina (girls basketball coach at Mamba Sports Academy)

• Zobayan, Ara (an instrument-rated commercial pilot licensed to fly helicopters, also a helicopter flight and ground instructor)

WHAT: A helicopter crashed, killing all 9 people aboard.

• The helicopter's tail number was N72EX ("Two Echo X-Ray").

• The helicopter was a 19-year old Sikorsky S-76B, with twin Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6B-36B turboshaft engines, four-bladed main and tail rotors and retractable landing gear, with seating for up to 11 (2 pilots and 9 passengers).

• There was no "black box" aboard the helicopter because there is no requirement for commercial helicopters to have a black box.

• The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter was built in 1991. It was initially owned by the state of Illinois, but the state auctioned it off in the summer of 2015 for $515,161 to Jim Bagge -- an executive at Island Express Holding Corp., the company that holds the FAA registration for the helicopter.

WHEN: 2020/01/26. The 911 call came in at 0947h PST.

• The flight originated from John Wayne Airport in Orange County at 0908 PST.

WHERE: Into the side of a hill in rugged, mountainous terrain near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street near Calabasas, California, USA.

HOW: Events leading up to the crash are being pieced together.

• Officials in Los Angeles said late Sunday that dense fog in Southern California likely played a role -- Visibility was so low Sunday morning that the Los Angeles Police Department and the county sheriff's department grounded their helicopters.

• The helicopter was operating under special visual flight rules -- an SVFR clearance allows a pilot to fly in weather conditions worse than those allowed for standard visual flight rules (VFR).

• The Burbank Airport control tower allowed the helicopter to proceed northeast, following the Interstate 5 highway, using the SVFR clearance. -- "Maintain special VFR at or below 2,500" the pilot confirmed to the controller.

• Later in the flight, the pilot apparently asked for "flight following", a service in which controllers are in regular contact with an aircraft.

• The controller was recorded telling the pilot "2 echo X-ray, you're still too low level for flight following at this time."

• Radar data shows that shortly after 9:40 a.m., the helicopter turned again, toward the southeast, and climbed to more than 2,000 feet. It then descended and crashed into the hillside at about 1400 feet.

• Radar data shows that when it struck the ground, the helicopter was flying at about 184 mph and descending at a rate of more than 4,000 feet per minute.

• Eyewitnesses reported the helicopter may have had engine trouble, and that it went down at a sharp angle.

• The last transmission to the helicopter from the Burbank airport tower was "Are you VFR condition? You're too low." The pilot never replied.

WHY: The exact circumstances surrounding the state of the helicopter and the pilot's actions immediately before the crash are mostly unknown at this time.

• Crash-site evidence, flight data, pilot history, and the maintenance record of the helicopter are being investigated at this time.

COMMENTS: An investigation is ongoing.

• An 18-member team from the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, including the history of the pilot and the maintenance record of the aircraft.

• The team at the crash site is there solely to gather evidence, not to determine a cause, which would require further analysis.

• It took about nine minutes for firefighters to hike extremely steep terrain to the site; other firefighters were lowered to the scene from a sheriff's helicopter.

• The FAA has restricted the airspace above the crash site to an altitude of 5000 feet (1.53 km) and a distance of 5 miles (8.47 km) from the crash site.

• As of 1805 PST on 2020/01/26, CalTrans closed both the north and southbound US-101 Freeway off-ramps to Las Virgenes Road due to the ongoing investigation; also closed were Las Virgenes Road between Agoura Road and Lost Hills Road.