3 bodies removed from site of crash that killed Kobe Bryant, 8 others
Federal aviation investigators on Monday began combing a Calabasas hillside in search of answers for what led to the helicopter crash that killed Laker legend Kobe Bryant, one of his daughters and seven other people.
A National Transportation Safety Board “Go Team” consisting of 18 investigators arrived Sunday night, the federal agency said, bringing in a crew experienced in responding to major accidents across the country.
A key focus of the investigation likely will be the foggy conditions that hung over parts of Southern California at the time of the crash, shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday. The NTSB asked that anyone with photos showing Calabasas weather then to email them to investigators at witness@ntsb.gov.
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Investigators will also look into the helicopter’s equipment, as well as the background of the pilot and the company he worked for, said Jennifer Homendy, an NTSB board member, during a news conference on Monday afternoon.
The collision left the helicopter’s tail on one side of a hill, its fuselage on the other side and the main rotor some distance away. Investigators expect to spend several days on scene.
“It was a pretty devastating accident scene,” Homendy said.
Complete coverage: Kobe Bryant crash
The helicopter, with a veteran at the controls, was operating under “special visual flight rules,” in which pilots can fly in weather that is worse than allowed under the standard visual flight rules.
The responsibility for determining when it is safe to fly in a given weather condition rests with the pilot, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Pilots are expected to gauge the level of flight visibility, and determine their current and expected flight conditions.
The FAA disputed reports that the pilot leading up to the crash had been given “blanket clearance” to fly in the foggy weather. Air traffic controllers would have only given the special clearance to fly through controlled airspace, such as the area around Burbank and Van Nuys, leaving the decision to keep flying toward Calabasas up to the pilot, according to the FAA.
The Sikorsky S-76B took off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County at 9:08 a.m. Sunday, records show. The crash was near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street at about 9:45 a.m.
The aircraft was apparently headed to the Mamba Sports Academy in Newbury Park, where several basketball games were scheduled that day.
According to flight records, the helicopter headed north of Santa Ana, generally following the path of the 5 Freeway up to the downtown Los Angeles area, then headed to Glendale. The helicopter circled over Glendale while awaiting guidance from air traffic control, according to reports, then headed north toward Calabasas.
The pilot reported that he was going to climb to avoid some cloud cover, Homendy said, then began a left-descending turn.
“When ATC (air traffic control) asked what the pilot planned to do, there was no reply,” Homendy said.
The crash occurred immediately after, she added.
Residents and workers near the crash site reported hearing the engine of the helicopter struggling in the midst of thick and low clouds in the moments before it apparently plunged into the side of a hill.
The pilot, identified in numerous reports as Ara Zobayan, was flying the twin-engine helicopter that can transport up to nine passengers. Originally introduced in 1977 for the offshore oil and gas transportation market, the helicopter has become a favorite for executive transport because of its spacious and quiet cabins.
According to FAA records, Zobayan is a veteran pilot, having first received his commercial pilots license in 2007. He also had flight instructor and ground instructor certificates, records show.
One aviation expert said he believes it was pilot error.
The Sikorsky made what appeared to be a “panic climb” of 1,406 feet about 30 seconds before the helicopter stopped sending data, said Robert Katz, a Dallas-based commercial airplane pilot and certified flight instructor who has been flying since 1981.
Licensed as an instructor for single and multiple-engine airplanes and instrument flight, Katz is not specifically licensed as a pilot or instructor for helicopters, but he said the issues of judgment and decision-making have nothing to do with the type of aircraft.
Katz said data from a tracking log of the entire flight, posted online by FlightAware.com, show the final seconds of the twin-engine helicopter before it crashed into a hillside near Calabasas.
Andrew Schwartz of FlightAware said the data from the helicopter, N72EX, came from the Sikorksy’s transponder, which transmits data that includes location, airspeed, altitude and aircraft ascent and descent during a flight.
“This helicopter is probably the best machine money can buy,” said Katz, adding that a route over the Pacific Ocean would have been more safe. “It has state-of-the art navigation and communication capabilities, and every bell and whistle. The weak link in the chain is going to be the pilot.”
Some who flew with Zobayan and knew him said he was an excellent pilot who had a passion for flying.
“He’s as qualified as pilot and instructor that you can ask for,” said Adam Alexander, who is a private pilot.
Zobayan landed his helicopter at Alexander’s home in Calabasas “30-plus times, if not more,” Alexander said. “I trusted my life, my wife and my children to him,” Alexander said. “There would be nobody better you would want flying a helicopter in that time.
“I can’t imagine it would be his fault.”
On Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office was able to remove three bodies before personnel had to stop because of darkness. They were taken to the agency’s Forensic Science Center to be identified.
The search for the other six bodies resumed Monday morning, when about two dozen investigators, some wearing backpacks and blue jackets, could be seen inspecting the site a few hundred feet up the slope of a massive hill about a half mile to the east of the Las Virgenes Water District offices.
The investigators hiked up steep terrain as they searched for human remains and picked through thousands of pieces of debris scattered over a football-field sized area of brush.
A sheriff’s vehicle dug a road into the side of the hill to help ease access to the crash site.
No mourners were allowed close to the site, a stark contrast from the day before when hundreds, some wearing Laker gear and jerseys with Bryant’s name, crowded the sidewalk.
A no-fly zone was established over the site. And all access points to the hill, including Las Virgenes Road and a few hiking trails, were closed to the public.
It is unclear if more bodies were recovered Monday. A spokeswoman for the coroner’s office declined to comment on the ongoing work at the crash site. But investigators could be seen hauling equipment up the hill.
The harsh terrain will likely slow the search for answers.
Overnight, deputies had to stop some people from trying to reach the remote accident site on foot, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. By Monday, deputies on horseback and all-terrain vehicles were patrolling the area.
“You have well-wishers, lookie-loos, people of all sorts trying to access the crash site,” Villanueva said.
Early Monday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti requested that all of the city’s flags immediately be lowered half-staff in honor of the nine who died Sunday in the crash.
In a city memo, the mayor said of Bryant: “He will live forever in the heart of Los Angeles, and will be remembered through the ages as one of our greatest heroes.”
Staff writer Jeong Park contributed to this report.
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