Kobe Bryant dead in helicopter crash

[MillCreek]

https://www.tmz.com/

Five people dead in the crash in Los Angeles.

[makattak]

According to reports (NY Post), his 13 year old daughter also died.

He is leaving behind 3 other daughters including a 6 month old.

Very sad for someone so young. (I say because I'm 41.)

Life is short.

[WLJ]

    UPDATE: We have confirmed that Kobe Bryant's daughter Gianna, 13, was also killed in the helicopter crash. https://t.co/WeP951WSQF

    — Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 26, 2020

[WLJ]

SJW Rule #1: Never miss an opportunity to attack Trump
https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2020/01/26/we-dont-need-your-fake-sympathy-blue-checks-trash-president-trump-for-tweeting-about-kobe-bryant/

 

[WLJ]

    NEW: LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva says NINE people were on flight manifest – pilot plus 8 passengers, and that investigators on scene believe they’ve found remains consistent with that number

    — Christine Mai-Duc (@cmaiduc) January 26, 2020

[just Warren]

This has hit me harder than I thought it would when I first heard.

I think it's because just last night I was watching him congratulate LeBron on passing him on the all-time scoring list and then today he's dead. Just like that.

[WLJ]

*

[just Warren]

NBA Hall of Fame has set aside their induction rules and Kobe will be voted in this year.

[Northwoods]

From the sounds of it, based on the reports that seem to know something about flying, it was most likely a case of CFIT due to possible spatial disorientation.  I.e. they were flying SVFR and wound up in hard IMC.  Pilot probably couldn't tell up from down and hit a hill side at about max speed and reportedly dropping altitude very quickly.  Only blessing is that everyone was likely dead instantly and didn't have to suffer burning to death.

[Ben]

From the sounds of it, based on the reports that seem to know something about flying, it was most likely a case of CFIT due to possible spatial disorientation.  I.e. they were flying SVFR and wound up in hard IMC.  Pilot probably couldn't tell up from down and hit a hill side at about max speed and reportedly dropping altitude very quickly.  Only blessing is that everyone was likely dead instantly and didn't have to suffer burning to death.

It will be interesting to see what the pilot's experience was. Assuming he was a professional pilot, he should have been IFR rated, and I would assume Bryant wouldn't have skimped on the helo and avionics. I only heard one ATC snippet, but that single data point pointed to the FAA likely calling this pilot error.

[Fly320s]

It will be interesting to see what the pilot's experience was. Assuming he was a professional pilot, he should have been IFR rated, and I would assume Bryant wouldn't have skimped on the helo and avionics. I only heard one ATC snippet, but that single data point pointed to the FAA likely calling this pilot error.

Many, maybe most, helo pilots are not IFR rated.  It isn't needed for most helo flying.

The helo was not owned by Bryant.  It was owned by a charter company and from the cockpit photos, it looks fully equipped for IFR flight.  I assume all S-76s are as they are high end helos.

[TommyGunn]

It will be interesting to see what the pilot's experience was. Assuming he was a professional pilot, he should have been IFR rated, and I would assume Bryant wouldn't have skimped on the helo and avionics. I only heard one ATC snippet, but that single data point pointed to the FAA likely calling this pilot error.

The helicopter was a Sikorsky S-76,  one of the best available,  twin turbo- shaft powered, @165 mph top speed,  the thing is an overgrown beanie with a propeller on top chewing through the operator's budget at $13,000,000 apiece!

But,  top quality and excellent safety reputation.....

[Ben]

Many, maybe most, helo pilots are not IFR rated.  It isn't needed for most helo flying.

That's very interesting. I only flew in military/USCG helos or DoD contract helos, and all those guys were IFR rated AFAIK (maybe I'm wrong?), since we spent a lot of time over foggy oceans. Though for what we did and for safety, we never flew IFR. We used to call it at MVFR.

Seems like a professional contract pilot would not want to make any "close call" decisions. But all the info isn't out yet, so I'm trying not to speculate or jump to conclusions.

[makattak]

That's very interesting. I only flew in military/USCG helos or DoD contract helos, and all those guys were IFR rated AFAIK (maybe I'm wrong?), since we spent a lot of time over foggy oceans. Though for what we did and for safety, we never flew IFR. We used to call it at MVFR.

Seems like a professional contract pilot would not want to make any "close call" decisions. But all the info isn't out yet, so I'm trying not to speculate or jump to conclusions.

I'll speculate and jump to conclusions, then!

From the limited information out there, my impression is that pride may be the cause of this crash. The pilot didn't want to abort and land at Burbank and admit things had gotten too dicey for him, so he pushed on, thinking he had it under control.

Maybe the investigation will reveal something else, but that seems quite plausible to me.

[Boomhauer]

Flying a helicopter on instruments is a little different than flying a fixed wing on instruments due to the flight characteristics of a helicopter. Flying a helicopter visually requires extremely developed coordination and skills. I can definitely see how an unintentional penetration into IFR weather could easily be disastrous and very easy to get disoriented.

[Angel Eyes]

No terrain awareness system on the helicopter:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash-terrain-awareness-pilot-031437012.html

So was the crash a controlled flight into terrain?

[Fly320s]

No terrain awareness system on the helicopter:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash-terrain-awareness-pilot-031437012.html

So was the crash a controlled flight into terrain?

My guess is semi-controlled.  Trying to fly it, but didn't.  I think the helo was using flight following, so I'm curious if ATC issued him an altitude warning/advisory.

[Hawkmoon]

My guess is semi-controlled.  Trying to fly it, but didn't.  I think the helo was using flight following, so I'm curious if ATC issued him an altitude warning/advisory.

Articles I read said the pilot requested flight following but ATC responded that he was too low for that to be possible. He was on his own.

[Jamisjockey]

From the sounds of it, based on the reports that seem to know something about flying, it was most likely a case of CFIT due to possible spatial disorientation.  I.e. they were flying SVFR and wound up in hard IMC.  Pilot probably couldn't tell up from down and hit a hill side at about max speed and reportedly dropping altitude very quickly.  Only blessing is that everyone was likely dead instantly and didn't have to suffer burning to death.
[/quote

I wholly agree with this assessment, and would bet lunch on it.

[Jamisjockey]

Articles I read said the pilot requested flight following but ATC responded that he was too low for that to be possible. He was on his own.

Not just articles. You can listen to most of their ATC interactions on youtube.

https://youtu.be/B0pQfgi9ZqU

Flight following wouldn't have saved them. At most, it would have lessened the response time when they dropped off radar/impacted the mountain.

Beyond that, I don't have much else to say until an actual NTSB report comes out. I don't know what decision making was made to get them to this point.

[Fly320s]

Flight following wouldn't have saved them. At most, it would have lessened the response time when they dropped off radar/impacted the mountain.

ATC won't issue altitude alerts for flight following?   In general, not in this case.

[Jamisjockey]

ATC won't issue altitude alerts for flight following?   In general, not in this case.

We don't get MSAW alerts (low altitude alerts) on VFR aircraft, only Collision Alerts.


Fun fact you might like, MSAW doesn't only detect proximity but descent rate.  You could be above the MVA but the computer thinks your descent rate is going to put you into the ground, so it tells us to tell you.
We can also skip giving the alert, if in our judgement no actual risk occurs. Which for radar controllers, we can't see *expletive deleted*it, we give all msaw alerts. Tower can actually see you and will often choose not to give the alert.