Feds Reveal Cause Of Crash That Killed Lower Merion's Kobe Bryant

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — Federal safety investigators announced Tuesday morning that pilot error caused the helicopter crash that killed NBA star and Lower Merion native Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the Jan. 26, 2020 crash occurred because pilot Ara Zobayan flew through clouds and likely became disoriented while transporting Bryant and eight passengers from Orange County to a Camarillo for a youth basketball game.

NTSB chief investigator Bill English said that Zobayan was navigating heavy fog, and believed that he was rising above the clouds when he was in fact descending. English said that Zobayan told an air traffic controller that he was climbing to 2,400 feet, but was already descending into nearby hills.

The Sikorksy S-76 helicopter plunged into the hills below, instantly killing all nine aboard before it burst into flames. The NTSB said previously there was no sign of mechanical failure. Over the past year, experts have speculated that the crash could lead to requiring Terrain Awareness and Warning systems, devices that signal when a helicopter is in danger of crashing. While the NTSB has recommended these as mandatory, the FAA currently only requires it for ambulances.

On the year-anniversary of Bryant's death, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) put forward the Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act, a bill that would require Terrain Avoidance Warning Systems on all helicopters carrying six or more passengers.

English said Tuesday that such a system would not have saved Bryant, due to the pilot's spatial disorientation in the clouds. "The pilot doesn't know which way is up," English said.

"These devices are designed for a class of accidents we call controlled flight into terrain in which ... the pilot is not aware of the terrain or they turned the wrong way or descendent below an altitude," English said."... This accident is not consistent with the controlled flight into terrain scenario. The pilot had every indication he was aware of the terrain along 101 as it was rising toward Calabasas."

Investigators said that Zobayan may have "misperceived" the angles at which the aircraft was descending and banking, which can occur when pilots become disoriented in low visibility.

Investigators also faulted Zobayan for banking to the left rather than ascending straight up when trying to climb out of the fog.

The weather on the morning of the flight included a widespread area of coastal clouds about 1,000 to 2,000 feet thick "characterized by stratus clouds at the top at the potential for fog formation below. There were no hazardous conditions such as icing or thunderstorms," English said.

The flight departed at 9:07 a.m. and proceeded northwest across the Los Angeles metropolitan area. At 9:20 a.m., Zobayan requested permission to enter air space over Burbank Airport but was advised to hold for traffic. About 11 minutes later he was provided clearance through the Burbank airspace, maintaining an altitude of about 500 feet above ground level.

As the flight proceeded west out of the San Fernando Valley, controllers advised Zobayan that his altitude level would be too low as the helicopter followed the Hollywood (101) Freeway toward an area of rising terrain. About four minutes later, Zobayan told controllers that he was intending to climb above the cloud layers.

The helicopter had been flying at about 350 feet above ground level, but during this transmission to controllers it began climbing at a rate of about 1,500 feet per minute while generally following the 101 and a slight left turn.

The crash immediately generated worldwide grief, lawsuits, and countersuits. Bryant's widow Vanessa sued Zobayan and Island Express Helicopters, which owned and operated the helicopter, for alleged negligence and the wrongful deaths of her husband and daughter. Zobayan's brother, Berge Zobayan, said Bryant's survivors do not deserve damages from the pilot's estate, while Island Express Helicopters has denied responsibility and called the crash "an act of God."

The company also countersued two FAA air traffic controllers, alleging that one controller improperly denied Zobayan's request for radar assistance. FAA officials have said the controller terminated service because radar could not be maintained at the helicopter's altitude.

Kobe Bryant, 41, was traveling with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others to the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks on Jan. 26 when the helicopter crashed at 9:47 a.m.

Blunt force trauma was the cause of death for all victims, identified as Kobe and Gianna Bryant; John Altobelli, 56; Sarah Chester, 45; Keri Altobelli, 46; Alyssa Altobelli, 14; Payton Chester, 13; Christina Mauser, 38; and the helicopter's pilot, Ara Zobayan, 50. Zobayan did not have drugs or alcohol in his system while piloting the helicopter, his toxicology report confirmed.

Story by Michael Wittner and City News Service