A year-long investigation in the helicopter crash the killed Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna Bryant and seven other people has ended with the National Transportation Safety Board sharing its findings on Tuesday.
The U.S. safety investigators found that the pilot of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter, Ara Zobayan, flew through the clouds in violation of federal standards and likely became disoriented, not knowing ‘which way was up,’ before crashing into a hillside, killing all 8 passengers on board.
Zobayan was only legally allowed to fly under Visual Flight Rules which meant that he needed to be able to see where he was going. Due to the heavy fog over Los Angeles on January 26, 2020, which grounded most air traffic, he wouldn’t have been able to clearly see that day, Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the NTSB said during the hearing.
The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter climbed sharply and almost broke through the clouds when it banked abruptly and collided into the hill. The aircraft also didn’t have a “black box” recording device which is not required.
Throughout the investigation authorities never found any evidence of mechanical failure.
At the end of January, a helicopter safety bill named in honor of the late Kobe and Gianna Bryant was reintroduced to Congress.
On Jan. 25, Congressman Brad Sherman and Senator Dianne Feinstein revealed that they were reintroducing the Kobe and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act for the 117th session of Congress. If passed into law, the legislation – which was first introduced last June – would bolster federal safety standards for equipping helicopters and necessitate that the Federal Aviation Administration start requiring all helicopters certified for six or more passengers to be equipped with a flight data recorder, a cockpit voice recorder, and a terrain awareness and warning system.
In June, Vanessa Bryant urged Congress to pass a new helicopter safety bill named after her husband Kobe Bryant and their daughter Gianna Bryant.
“I strongly urge that the United States Congress pass a federal law that would improve the safety of helicopters operating in this country,” she said in a statement. “I believe there is a chance that Kobe and Gianna would still be alive today if their helicopter had been equipped with the safety equipment required by this pending federal legislation.”
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