Kobe Bryant’s helicopter lacked warning system that could have alerted pilot to hillside
The helicopter that crashed Sunday — killing nine people, including Kobe Bryant — was not equipped with a terrain alarm system that could have warned the pilot he was approaching a hillside, National Transportation Safety Board officials said Tuesday.
The findings come as investigators are trying to determine why the helicopter crashed into the Calabasas hillside Sunday morning amid foggy conditions.
NTSB investigator Jennifer Homendy said at Tuesday’s news conference that the helicopter carrying Bryant and eight others was at
2,300 feet when it lost communication with air-traffic controllers. The descent rate for the helicopter was more than 2,000 feet a minute.
“So we know that this was a high-energy-impact crash, and the helicopter was in a descending left bank,” Homendy said.
She said her agency had recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration 16 years ago require all choppers carrying six or more passengers be equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system, adding the “FAA has failed to act on” the proposal. Because the FAA didn’t follow the recommendation, the chopper that crashed Sunday was not legally required to have the system.
Shortly after her Tuesday conference, an FAA spokesman rebuked that assessment, noting that the FAA requires the terrain alarm system for helicopter air ambulance operations.
The bodies of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and the seven others who died in the crash were recovered Tuesday.
Authorities investigating Sunday’s accident said the impact of the crash was intense, shattering the chopper and sending debris over a wide area.
“This was a pretty devastating accident,” Homendy said. “There is an impact area on one of the hills, and a piece of the tail is down the hill on the left side of the hill. The fuselage is on the other side of that hill. Then the main rotor is about hundred yards beyond that. The debris field is about 500 to 600 feet.”
The Calabasas hillside has become a pilgrimage point for thousands of tourists and fans of the Los Angeles Lakers legend, prompting Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials to urge the public to stay away. Sheriff Alex Villanueva warned onlookers that it is a misdemeanor to enter the crash site and that those found in the area would face arrest. Deputies are patrolling the site on horseback and ATVs, he said.
Several individuals tried to get into the area Sunday and were turned back by law enforcement.
“We had people trying to access the site on foot,” Villanueva said. “Unfortunately, we’ve had an inordinate amount of interest in accessing the crash site by unauthorized personnel.”
The investigation into the cause of the crash is still in its early stages. But Homendy provided new details Monday about the final moments of the flight, which was taking Bryant and his group from Orange County to his basketball camp in Thousand Oaks, where the retired NBA player was scheduled to coach a game in which Gianna was scheduled to play.
Accompanying the Bryants were John Altobelli, 56, longtime baseball coach at Orange Coast College; his wife, Keri, 46; their daughter, Alyssa, 13; Christina Mauser, 38, an assistant basketball coach at the Mamba Academy; Sarah Chester, 45; Chester’s daughter, Payton, 13; and the pilot, 50-year-old
Ara Zobayan.
Homendy said it remained unclear what caused the helicopter to slam into the hillside.