A witness to Kobe Bryant‘s helicopter crash has spoken out and revealed what he heard as the tragic incident happened near him. Speaking to Extra, sound engineer Scott Daehlin told the outlet that he knew something was wrong when the aircraft was flying closer to the ground than seemed safe.
“My alarm bells went off because I thought, ‘This is awfully low,’” he said, then estimating that it was “100, 150 feet” above him, but was still not visible due to the low clouds and thick fog. The helicopter eventually flew away, but then about “20 seconds later” Daehlin “heard the impact,” which he described as a sudden “thump” as the aircraft crashed into a hill that was covered in fog.
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Regarding the crash, Daehlin said, “It was not very loud. You could hear the crushing, collapsing of fiberglass, Plexiglas,” then adding that the “rotors stopped literally immediately” without any kind of explosion.
“It just all stopped,” he recalled. “So however the impact happened, it ended very, very quickly.” Daehlin later added, “I hope that the occupants didn’t suffer because it was very, very quick.”
Witnesses who were near the #KobeBryant crash site recall what they saw and heard: https://t.co/zjvO59baKM pic.twitter.com/OhHl8MBVju
— ExtraTV (@extratv) January 27, 2020
Following the fatal helicopter crash that claimed the life of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others, it’s been announced that the Los Angeles Lakers have decided to postpone their game against the L.A. Clippers.
ESPN journalist Ramona Shelburne commented on the development, tweeting, “There have been discussions between the Lakers and the NBA since the helicopter crash that killed Kobe and 8 others about whether this game should be played. Ultimately an organization that spent the day with grief counselors just wasn’t up to putting on an NBA game.”
The NBA has announced the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Los Angeles Clippers scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed “out of respect for the Lakers organisation” following the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people in a helicopter crash on Sunday
— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) January 27, 2020
“Kobe Bryant has been a part of the Lakers for 20 years. Most employees knew him well and are grieving. It was a lot to ask to come in for an event of this magnitude while things were so raw,” she added.
Bryant was 41 years old at the time of his death. The cause of the helicopter crash is currently under investigation.
