February 5. 2020

This is a follow up to the January 28, 2020 article "The Fatal Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash And Its Legal Liability Issues (Video)" where I stated the helicopter crash was due to pilot error and negligence on the part of pilot Ara Zobayan. He was flying a Sikorsky S-76, designed for two pilots, not one.

In my January 28, 2020 article I stated, "It can be argued the crash was caused by pilot error in flying in thick fog and slamming into the hillside. The pilot was also flying so unsafely low that he fell off air traffic control's radars. The pilot also unsafely sped up moments before the helicopter crashed. Maybe the pilot saw the hillside too late and tried to pull up by accelerating upward. Maybe he became disoriented and delirious in the fog. Either way, pilot error and negligence unquestionably played a role in the decision to fly in milky fog that was so bad the Los Angeles Police Department suspended all helicopter flights concerning their fleet."

2-days later the New York Times published an article entitled "Helicopter in Kobe Bryant Crash Wasn’t Legal to Fly in Poor Visibility." The New York Times stated, "When the helicopter carrying the basketball legend Kobe Bryant crashed into a fogbound mountainside on Sunday, killing all nine people onboard, the pilot who was struggling to avoid the clouds did not have the legal authority to navigate with his instruments because the aircraft owner did not have the necessary federal certification, according to three sources familiar with the charter helicopter company’s operations."

Therefore, as I stated from the beginning, the fatal crash can be attributed to pilot error and negligence. The pilot needs to be thoroughly investigated. Something strange happened in that crash. No pilot worth their salt is going to fly in such heavy fog without the legal authority to do so (make it worse, with three minors on board, risking their lives as well). I've been hearing terrible rumors in the entertainment industry about what truly happened and it's bad. Very bad.

STORY SOURCE

Helicopter in Kobe Bryant Crash Wasn’t Legal to Fly in Poor Visibility

Jan. 30, 2020 - LOS ANGELES — When the helicopter carrying the basketball legend Kobe Bryant crashed into a fogbound mountainside on Sunday, killing all nine people onboard, the pilot who was struggling to avoid the clouds did not have the legal authority to navigate with his instruments because the aircraft owner did not have the necessary federal certification, according to three sources familiar with the charter helicopter company’s operations.

Island Express Helicopters, which owned the Sikorsky S-76B, had a Federal Aviation Administration operating certification that limited its pilots to flying under what are known as visual flight rules, or V.F.R., which for helicopters operating at low altitude require at least a half-mile of daytime visibility and visual reference to the ground. The company did not have certification for its pilots to fly with instruments, said Kurt Deetz, a pilot and former safety manager at the company.

The helicopter had sophisticated instruments onboard that the F.A.A. has approved for instrument flight, and the pilot, Ara Zobayan, was certified to fly by them. But because of limitations on how the company is approved by the F.A.A. to operate when carrying passengers for hire, he was required to fly only in conditions of sufficient visibility to navigate visually.

The limitations on Island Express’s operations are not unusual. Another operator at Van Nuys Airport, where the company is based, said none of the charter operators there have gone to the trouble and expense of winning certification for instrument flight, in part because it is normally so simple to navigate at low altitude in Southern California, with its easy-to-follow freeways and sunny weather.

But the new details about Island Express’s F.A.A. certification shed light on the question of why the pilot did not file an instrument flight plan that would have allowed him to climb well above the fog-shrouded hills and head to Camarillo Airport, not far from the basketball tournament where Mr. Bryant and his party were headed.

https://www.nytimes.com

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