In the two days since Kobe Bryant and eight others died in a helicopter crash, there have been countless questions about the circumstances surrounding the incident. Concerned citizens have wanted to know the cause of the crash and many other important details. The Los Angeles Times answered some of the questions on Tuesday with an in-depth glimpse into the flight plan and the conditions surrounding the tragic crash.
According to the report, Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and six other passengers boarded the helicopter to fly from John Wayne Airport to a basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks. The flight took off at 9:06 a.m. and headed to Camarillo Airport. However, the Sikorsky S-76B never arrived at its destination.
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As the Times continued to explain, the flight tracking shows that the helicopter followed the expected path through Orange Count and southeast Los Angeles County but deviated from a route that would take it over the Santa Monica Mountains.
The poor weather actually resulted in the pilot, Ara Zobayan, following the freeway and traveling over the Los Angeles Zoo. This was a lower elevation route and did not require passing over any mountains. He had to enter the Burbank airspace and request special clearance, which forced the helicopter to circle in a holding pattern for 12 minutes until the airport traffic could clear.
Nearly 40 minutes after takeoff, Zobayan and his passengers were back on track. They were flying on the northern side of the Santa Monica Mountains and were following the 101 Freeway. This path led the helicopter into the rugged terrain above Calabasas and the fog covering the entire area.
Prior to the tragic crash, Ara Zobayan commenced a climb to rise above the cloud level. The helicopter climbed from 1,250 feet to 2,125 and slowed to 126 mph. He had been warned that he was flying too low to be tracked on radar. However, the aircraft suddenly veered south and then plummeted 325 feet in 14 seconds. The aircraft reached 176 mph before hitting the hillside above Las Virgenes Road and bursting into flames.
The exact reason for the crash is unknown and remains under investigation. Sources did tell the Times that the pilot could have become spatially disoriented as he looked out of the helicopter in an effort to get his bearings during the climb. This reportedly makes it difficult to discern whether the aircraft is up or down. There have been instances in the past where the pilots attempted to level the aircraft but “punched the nose over” and sent it plummeting into the ground.
Whether or not this was the case on Sunday morning has not been determined just yet. The investigation continues into the tragic crash, and the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to provide an update in the future.
(Photo Credit: Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images)
