Breaking news
6:57 am PT – Kobe Bryant did NOT pressure his helicopter pilot to take dangerous risks to complete his doomed flight on January 26, investigators say … but the pilot may have been pressured to move forward in dangerous conditions to please his famous client.
Pressure from an important customer CAN drive pilots to make bad decisions, experts say … but that was not the case with Kobe.
“There was no evidence that Island Express, the air charter broker or the customer [Kobe Bryant] pressed the pilot to accept the charter flight request or complete the flight and adverse weather conditions. “
So far, NTSB researchers are making it look like the pilot has experienced a condition called Spatial Disorientation moments before the accident, which made him think the aircraft was going up, when in fact it was going down. As one researcher said: “The pilot does not know which way is up”.
In fact, the researchers say that spatial disorientation is obviously a very dangerous condition – and they want more aircraft operators to implement programs to help identify and prevent pilots from experiencing it during flight.
During the presentation, Vice President Landsberg seemed to point a finger at the pilot – saying that he should have recognized the danger that time represented that day, turned around and landed at Van Nuys airport, which was a short distance from the venue of the accident.
The investigators noted that Kobe and the pilot had a long professional relationship and Kobe trusted him to fly with his children, even when he was not present.
“That kind of relationship he had with the customer can lead to self-induced pressure during the part of the flight en route,” say the investigators.
“That’s why the objective evidence from the interviews helped us to understand this relationship and the effect it can have on pilot decisions.”
History development …
The federal agency charged with investigating the helicopter accident that killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant, along with 7 other people, will announce their findings at a meeting on Tuesday – including the likely cause of the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board will meet virtually on Tuesday – and it will be open to the public, so we are going to broadcast the whole thing live here.
The NTSB has been working on the case since the aircraft – a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter – fell in Calabasas on January 26, 2020.
As we reported earlier, the NTSB initially said that the preliminary findings showed no external evidence of engine failure – and months after the investigation, authorities said the pilot has been disoriented when the aircraft was caught in deep fog.
The autopsy results showed the pilot, Ara Zobayan, was NOT on alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident … and NTSB investigators said that Zobayan’s girlfriend said he was in great shape before the accident.
The NTSB said in June that it found evidence showing that Zobayan thought he was climbing over the fog, when in reality the helicopter was descending at high speed.
In addition to revealing the likely cause of the accident, the NTSB must also make flight recommendations for similar aircraft in the hope of avoiding another tragedy.
Along with Kobe and Zobayan, seven others – including Kobe’s daughter, Gianna, and friends Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, John Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Payton Chester and Sarah Chester – died in the accident of January 26, 2020.
#REST IN PEACE