WHAT WE KNOW
Multiple federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, have joined local authorities in their efforts to understand what caused the helicopter to slam into a hillside.
NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy said the helicopter took off from John Wayne Airport. Near Burbank, the pilot requested a special visual flight rule, which had to be authorized by an air traffic controller. It allows an aircraft to proceed in controlled airspace at less than the basic visual flight rule, which includes a minimum flight ceiling of 1,000 feet and 3 miles of visibility.
While awaiting that approval, the helicopter circled for 12 minutes. The aircraft then went south and west at 1,400 feet, Homendy said. The pilot requested flight following from air traffic control but was informed the helicopter was flying too low for that to be possible. Flight following is ongoing surveillance information assistance from air traffic control.
Investigators determined the helicopter had climbed to 2,300 feet and began turning left. The last radar contact was at 9:45 a.m. PT.
As of July 2019, the pilot had accrued 8,200 hours of flight time. “It’s an experienced pilot,” Homendy said. Homendy said the impact crater is 1,085 feet above sea level. There was no black box.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said low clouds and fog in the area prompted the sheriff’s office to ground its helicopters Sunday morning. The Los Angeles Police Department took similar precautions.
The helicopter was a Sikorsky S-76B that was manufactured in 1991, according to FAA records. It was owned by Island Express Holding Corp., a helicopter flight charter business. Lockheed Martin acquired Sikorsky Aircraft in 2015. All branches of the U.S. military use its helicopters in some capacity.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed the deaths of Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. Orange Coast College confirmed that its baseball coach, John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and one of their two daughters, Alyssa, were also aboard the helicopter.
The other victims were Christina Mauser, an assistant girls basketball coach, and Sarah Chester and her daughter, Payton. The pilot has been identified in reports as Ara Zobayan.
“It’s horrible,” Mauser’s husband, Matt, told NBC’s “TODAY” show. “I’ve got three small kids, and I’m trying to figure out how to navigate life with three kids and no mom.”