Kobe Bryant’s Helicopter Recorded While Circling Glendale in Foggy Conditions Before Crash

A new video from an eye-witness shows Kobe Bryant‘s helicopter circling over Glendale, California before its fatal crash. The tragedy is under close investigation by aviation experts, and the public is slowly learning more about how it happened. To bystanders, the low-flying aircraft was alarming even before it fell.

The helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others pulled some unique maneuvers before it fell on Sunday morning. Its movements were strange enough to catch the attention of people on the ground, including Twitter user David Lyudmirsky, who posted this clip.

The video showed a helicopter in a foggy sky, flying low and following a curved path. The craft nearly rolled on its side as it turned, emerging from the haze over Lyudmirsky’s house. Lyudmirsky’s video is now reportedly in the hands of federal aviation investigators.

“It’s just unreal,” he told The New York Post after his video went viral. “There’s people all over the world in horrible conditions, suffering, and here’s one of the wealthiest Americans, most celebrated athletes, with a child of his, and families… it’s just a tragedy.”

In his tweet, Lyudmirsky explained that he often films the air traffic over his home, though he did not know the significance of this particular flight. The 41-year-old told the Post that the one caught his eye because it was “a huge helicopter, one that doesn’t ever fly that low, one that never circles, it’s just meant to go from point A to point B.”

It was a “quiet” Sunday morning before he heard the helicopter passing by. It was “as loud as thunder — imagine a gang of bikers — overhead,” Lyudmirsky said. He knew the aircraft’s flight was “strange,” but he did not know how.

“I didn’t think it was in trouble. I just didn’t understand what was going on,” he said. “You just never ever see that, ever, [except] at an air show.”

Flight experts have noted that flying conditions were poor even before the helicopter took off in Orange County. Pilot Ara Zobayan was reportedly given “special visual flight rules” clearance by air traffic controllers. With so much fog and poor visibility, experts have theorized that he became disoriented in the mountainous terrain.

The helicopter ultimately went down past Glendale, in Calabasas, California. Its final destination, Thousand Oaks, was just 17 miles away. Passengers included Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, six other passengers and Zobayan. There were no survivors.