The helicopter crash that left Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others dead was probably caused by the pilot’s “spatial disorientation”, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday.
Bryant, his daughter Gigi and seven others died when their helicopter crashed into a hill in southern California last January. Everyone was flying from Orange County to a youth basketball tournament in Ventura County, when the helicopter encountered a thick fog near Calabasas.
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The pilot, identified as Ara Zobayan, who had 10 years of flying experience in the area, rose sharply before abruptly bending over and diving down the slope. The NTSB said that initially there was no sign of mechanical failure and appeared to be an accident.
Those who died along with Bryant and his daughter were Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli; his wife Keri and his daughter Alyssa; Christina Mauser, who helped Bryant coach her daughter’s basketball team; and Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton, as well as the pilot. Alyssa and Payton were Gianna’s teammates.
An NTSB official said there was probably additional self-pressure on the pilot to complete the trip, despite weather conditions, due to his relationship with the customer. But the agency concluded that there was no additional external pressure on the pilot to make the trip.
“The pilot was proud of these positions with both the customer and Island Express. They had a good relationship with the customer and probably did not want to disappoint them by not completing the flight. This self-induced pressure can adversely affect decision making. of the pilot and trial, “said the NTSB official.
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The NTSB said that while air traffic control asked the pilot to “identify”, which means that the pilot placed his hand in the center of the instrument panel and pressed a button, he introduced “operational distractions from his main task of monitoring the flight instruments “since he lost visual vision in the clouds.
“The resulting descent and acceleration were conducive for the pilot to experience a somatogravic illusion in which he would incorrectly perceive that the helicopter was climbing when it was descending. The helicopter continued this steep descent the pilot was not referencing the instruments or having difficulty interpreting or believing on them due to convincing vestibular illusions and he was unable to recover the helicopter, “said the NTSB official during the meeting.
There have been 184 fatal aircraft accidents resulting from spatial disorientation, said the NTSB. Of those 184, 20 of them involved helicopters.
The NTSB also determined that the pilot flew through the clouds in an apparent violation of federal regulations. He was flying under visual flight rules, which means he needed to be able to see where he was going, said the NTSB.
The helicopter did not need to have a “black box” recording device.
Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, blamed the pilot. She and the families of the other victims also blamed the helicopter’s owning and operating companies. The pilot’s brother did not blame the NBA legend, but said he knew the risks of flying.
Island Express Helicopters denied responsibility for the accident and said it was “an act of God” that it could not control.
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Federal lawmakers sponsored the Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act to order Terrain Awareness and Alert Systems (TAWS) on all helicopters. The devices cost about R $ 35.00 a helicopter and require training and maintenance. However, there is no way of knowing whether the device would have prevented the crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.