Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa Bryant seeks hundreds of millions in lawsuit

Vanessa Bryant is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter company and the pilot involved in the NBA’s superstar’s tragic death.

• Massive bail for cop in George Floyd case
• Police have evidence Maddie is dead

Kobe Bryant’s widow is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter company and the pilot involved in the NBA’s superstar’s tragic death earlier this year.

Vanessa Bryant has filed the lawsuit following Kobe’s death in the January helicopter crash in California that killed all nine people on board, including their daughter Gianna.

The New York Post reports a claim has been made against the helicopter company and the estate of the pilot involved in the crash, Ara Zobayan.

The scene of the fatal helicopter crash in Calabasas. Picture: LA County Sheriff/Twitter

The suit was filed in February and blames Zobayan, who also died in the crash, for failing to obtain weather data before taking off and for failing to cancel the flight when he learned of the poor weather conditions, which included fog.

In the claim, Vanessa Bryant asserts she is entitled to hundreds of millions in future lost earnings as a result of the LA Laker’s untimely death.

“As a result of Kobe Bryant’s and GB’s deaths, Vanessa Bryant seeks economic damages, non-economic damages, prejudgement interest, punitive damages, and other relief as the Court deems just and proper,” court papers filed in the case say.

The families of other passengers who died in the January 26 crash in Calabasas, California have also filed their own wrongful death lawsuits.

Kobe Bryant and wife Vanessa Laine Bryant attend the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Picture: AFP

On the morning of the crash the LAPD had grounded their own helicopters due to poor visibility and the low ceiling due to the fog.

The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crashed around 48km northwest of downtown LA, where it struck a hillside and then burst into flames.

Investigators determined that it was unclear what caused the crash because the copter was not carrying a flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder, as these are not mandatory for the type of aircraft Zobayan was flying.

An autopsy did not find traces of any drugs or alcohol in the pilot’s system.

Witnesses to the crash said the helicopter’s engine was “sputtering” before the crash, while others saw it hit the ground at a “fairly significant rate of speed”.

It was not clear if the pilot make a distress call before the crash.

Firefighters at the scene of the crash. Picture: AP

KOBE’S PRESENT FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

The latest news on the tragic death of the NBA superstar who was mourned across the world, came after Vanessa Bryant opened a heartbreaking letter from Kobe on her birthday.

The widow of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant received a special gift for her 38th birthday – a letter from her late husband.

Kobe Bryant and his family. Picture: Instagram.

Vanessa Bryant explained on social media that she had found the letter a day before her birthday, more than three months after Kobe and daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash in California.

Vanessa said she waited a day to open the letter on her birthday – to give herself something special.

The envelope was labelled “To: The Love of my Life. From, Tu Papi”.

“It gave me something to look forward to today,” Vanessa Bryant wrote in an Instagram caption.

A woman with a face mask walks past a Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Picture: AFP

MORE NEWS

Battered US economy crashes into recession

MH-17 suspect’s curious reasons for case delay

“The irony is that Kobe had a photo of me drawn with an Angel holding me up by an artist on the cover. Missing the Love of my Life and my sweet little Mamacita — my fellow Taurus. Grateful to wake up to my 3 sweet girls today. Wish we were all together.”

In the past two months, Vanessa Bryant has commemorated what would have been her and Kobe’s 19th wedding anniversary on April 18 and Gianna’s 14th birthday on May 1.

She had previously posted on Gianna’s 14th birthday on May 1, “you are my soul forever.”

Originally published as Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa Bryant seeks hundreds of millions in lawsuit