National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report into fatal helicopter crash

A preliminary report into the crash that killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant along with seven others has revealed one stunning truth.

Wreckage from the helicopter that crashed last month and killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others did not show any outward evidence of engine failure, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.

Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and the others died in the Jan. 27 crash in Calabasas, California.

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The group was flying to a girls basketball tournament at his Mamba Sports Academy. Gianna’s team was coached by Bryant and was playing in the tournament.

The NTSB is investigating the accident, including any role heavy fog played, and a final report isn’t expected for at least a year.

A witness told the NTSB that the helicopter was flying forward and downward through the fog before it crashed right into the hillside. The witness said he saw the helicopter for 1 to 2 seconds before it hit the hill. The helicopter’s instrument panel was destroyed in the crash and most of the devices were displaced, according to the NTSB’s investigative update. The flight controls were broken and suffered fire damage.

The site of the crash.

Investigators believe that since a tree branch at the crash site was cut, it appears the engines were working and rotors turning at the time of impact.

Friday’s report was merely informational and did not offer any findings about what caused the crash. The victims’ deaths have been ruled an accident by blunt trauma, according to the Los Angeles County coroner.

The veteran pilot, Ara Zobayan, told air traffic control he was climbing to 1219 meters. He ascended to 701 metres, but rather than continuing higher, Zobayan began a high-speed descent and left turn in rapidly rising terrain.

He slammed into the hillside at more than 290km/h and was descending at 4000 feet per minute.

“If you exit the bottom of the clouds at 4000 feet per minute at that high speed, you’ve certainly lost control of the aircraft,” air safety consultant Kipp Lau said.

Lau said Bryant’s chopper could have emerged from the clouds in just 12 more seconds, assuming it was ascending at 152 meters per minute.

“Once you break out of the clouds, it’s clear. Everything lines up with the body,” Lau said. “Now you have a real horizon.”

Mike Sagely, a helicopter pilot in the Los Angeles area with 35 years of flying experience, said the aircraft’s last minutes suggest Zobayan had started to execute a manoeuvre designed to pop above the clouds by flying up and forward.

“When he went into the clouds, he had a full on emergency,” Sagely said.

When pilots try to turn instead of sticking with the pop-up manoeuvre, “probably in the neighbourhood of 80 to 90% of the time, it’s catastrophic,” he said.

Zobayan was the chief pilot for Island Express Helicopters and had more than 8200 hours of flight time. He was additionally certified to fly solely using instruments — a more difficult rating to attain that allows pilots to fly at night and through clouds — and was a pilot to other celebrities including Kawhi Leonard and Kylie Jenner.

The 50-year-old pilot’s most recent flight review included training on inadvertently flying into bad weather conditions. It covered how to recover if the aircraft’s nose is pointed too far up or down, and what to do if the helicopter banks severely to one side. The pilot earned satisfactory grades in the review, which took place in May 2018.

Kobe with his daughter Gigi.

The deaths shook Los Angeles and the sporting world, with memorials spanning the city and tributes at the Super Bowl and other games.

A public memorial for Bryant and the other victims is scheduled for Feb. 24 at the Staples Center. The arena is where Bryant starred for the Los Angeles Lakers for most of his two- decade career and the date 24/2 corresponds with the No. 24 jersey he wore and the No. 2 worn by Gianna.

The aircraft did not have a device called the Terrain Awareness and Warning System that signals when an aircraft is in danger of hitting ground.

The NTSB has recommended the system be mandatory for helicopters but the Federal Aviation Administration only requires it for air ambulances. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, both California Democrats, have called for the FAA to mandate the devices in the wake of the tragedy.

It’s not clear if the warning system would have averted the crash. The helicopter was also not required to have a black box.

A public memorial for Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa will be held Feb. 10 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Also killed in the crash were Bryant friends Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton.