Kobe Bryant deceased

[Captain Crawfish]

Pilot knew he was gambling given the conditions. Might have been “told” to take it up anyways because millionaires can be persuasive at times. You don’t tell them they tell you.

[Gasser64]

That helicopters is as rugged as an anvil. I think the investigation is going to show that somebody accidentally flew it into an obstruction.

I saw something weird while driving down the highway. I was headed south on 35 and I looked off to my right and there were 5 helicopters all hovering, facing a 6th helicopter. The 6th was facing them. I thought maybe 5 were students, and the 6th was an instructor. Or maybe not who knows.

[svauto-erotic855]

I saw something weird while driving down the highway. I was headed south on 35 and I looked off to my right and there were 5 helicopters all hovering, facing a 6th helicopter. The 6th was facing them. I thought maybe 5 were students, and the 6th was an instructor. Or maybe not who knows.

Those were hummingbirds dumb ass; you need to stop toking up during the day.

[Gasser64]

Nope, afraid not. Also I don't drink or smoke. I was raised in the church

[svauto-erotic855]

Nope, afraid not. Also I don't drink or smoke. I was raised in the church

So was I and I've done porn.

[Gasser64]

Yeah but were you raised in a hellfire and brimstone church?

[ram57ta]

Pilot knew he was gambling given the conditions. Might have been “told” to take it up anyways because millionaires can be persuasive at times. You don’t tell them they tell you.

He paid for it too.

[pHILSANITY07]

He paid for it too.

I was listening to the ticket this morning and I thought they said that the conditions where they took off were okay. That it got worse while they were going in that direction.

Could've misheard cause I was just waking up on the way to work.

[Strychnine]

I was listening to the ticket this morning and I thought they said that the conditions where they took off were okay. That it got worse while they were going in that direction.

Could've misheard cause I was just waking up on the way to work.

Seems very likely. Here's an armchair quarterback analysis from a helicopter pilot in that same area:

No, as a helicopter pilot I can explain this.

The aircraft was flying VFR, which means not on instruments. Helicopters are allowed to fly during daylight in the type of airspace he was operating in from John Wayne to the crash site in 1/2 mile visibility and clear of clouds. This is predicated on the pilot determining he is in fact flying in at least 1/2 mile visibility and clear of clouds. This is not easily done, because it can be difficult to tell whether your projected flight path will keep you out of the clouds and clouds are a kind of fuzzy looking beast in front of you, or hopefully above you, and it can be very difficult to assure you aren’t going to fly into a cloud or an area of reduced visibility up ahead. This is why you shouldn’t play with fire; just land, at an airport preferably or street, park, etc.

The altitude read outs you see on these radar tracks are what the transponder reports which is Pressure Altitude, the height above the 29.92” Hg standard datum plane. This is essentially above sea level under yesterday’s conditions. So, if the altitude readout says 1,400’ you could actually be on the ground if the elevation where you are is 1,400’. What would be great is an Above Ground Level (AGL) readout, which can be determined by comparing the flight path with topographical maps.

I am a pilot who flies in Los Angeles and knows SoCal very well. I know the elevations throughout most of SoCal. This pilot was flying as low as 150’ at numerous times throughout this flight. This was done to “scud run” and get through to his destination. This is unacceptable and a very dangerous practice. He had multiple chances to end the flight by landing, somewhere. He kept pushing through, into rising terrain westbound towards Calabasas. If you have bad visibility and ceilings in the San Fernando Valley you are definitely going to have a much worse time in higher terrain.

It appears he flew into the clouds/fog shortly after. After realizing he was Inadvertent-Instrument Meteorological Conditions (I-IMC, or “cant see because he’s in a cloud”) he did the right thing by focusing on instruments instead, since he has no visual reference with the ground anymore. He actually began to do the right thing by climbing and starting a 180 degree turn. However, most helicopter pilots are not good at flying on instruments since we basically never do it after receiving the rating for the ability. There is a whole conversation of reasons why that is the case but is outside the scope of this comment. So the pilot likely developed Spatial Disorientation and lost control of the helicopter, which is indicated by the rapid descent in the last seconds of the flight.

As a helicopter pilot this absolutely enrages me. How someone could flout company policy, standard procedures, regulations and exhibit no shred of professionalism to keep everyone onboard safe is beyond me. He could have just landed at Van Nuys and they could get a car service the rest of the way. I have done this a BUNCH of times, is a little disappointing when you can’t make it to the destination but this was some of the worst conditions we’ve seen in a long while and in the end: what are you doing risking people’s lives to please them? Just. Fucking. Land.


Edit: I want to make clear in my post (as I have in responses to comments elsewhere) that this is my opinion only. My opinion based off of publicly available data, knowledge from having worked in the industry for 15 years, knowledge of the aircraft, having flown the specific type of aircraft, knowledge of the regulations regarding Part 91, Part 135, and VFR and IFR regulations, local knowledge being a pilot here, and being well-aware of the leading causes of accidents in the helicopter industry. I too am a Certified Flight Instructor and Instrument-Instructor in Helicopters. However, until the NTSB concludes their investigation and finds a cause for this accident then my opinion is only my opinion and not fact. I sincerely, and with all my heart, hope that the NTSB finds a mechanical irregularity led to this accident. Helicopter pilots are a very tight community and we are all brothers. I hope Zobayan is flying his favorite heli right now wherever he is.

[svauto-erotic855]

Yeah but were you raised in a hellfire and brimstone church?

LDS. I went to Seminary and everything; called it quits right after I turned 17 I think.

[LS1Goat]

NTSB says there was no TAWS system on the heli. They said the FAA disregarded their recommendation to implement it on these aircraft years ago. They did not and the NTSB closed it as unacceptable.

So, there is a larger issue here to be examined. Why in the world does the FAA essentially blow off these safety recommendations?

But, I guess like Strychnine posted above. Probably didn't matter anyway. Pilot probably knew he needed to land, but pushed through anyway.

[Captain Crawfish]

A pilot with about the same experience in choppers noted that TAWS might not have helped because the pilot knew the route and the area well. He flew it all the time. The issue was he could not see and it happens very fast you can’t just turn around once your in it. Your an instrument pilot now and it’s a different animal. He might have tried to gain alt to get out then it got in a stall or simply got disoriented drifted close to the hill or possibly gonna do a 180 but was too close. The charter was not rated for this flight conditions and the pilots may or may not have been staying sharp on IFR skills because they don’t ever use it there. Just a bad situation that got worse. RIp

[Gasser64]

LDS. I went to Seminary and everything; called it quits right after I turned 17 I think.

Yeah, me too. I think most people are calling it quits these days. I mean if they just want to make it a sunday morning social club where they all think nice thoughts, I'm cool with that. I won't be there of course, but I'm cool with it.