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Kobe Bryant’s helicopter was flying dangerously low before fatal crash
By Emily SmithJanuary 27, 2020 | 12:38am
Video shows aftermath of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash

The pilot of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter was warned he was flying dangerously low before he crashed into a California mountainside at around 185mph, killing all aboard.

Flight tower audio reveals that the pilot of Kobe’s helicopter — tail number N72EX, was told, “Two echo x-ray you are still too low for flight following at this time……(then ATC talks to another aircraft)….two echo x-ray SoCal?”

Flight Following is a service air traffic control gives to aircraft to provide improved situational awareness and avoid collisions with other aircraft. SoCal handles the low altitude traffic in Southern California.

Aviation sources said the LA weather was extremely foggy on Sunday morning and most helicopter traffic was grounded. The pilot of Kobe’s chopper planned to land at Burbank Airport but had been circling the area for around 15 minutes waiting for clearance to land because of the bad weather conditions and other aircraft on flight plans landing at the airport.

Shortly before the crash, the pilot climbed the helicopter to 2000 feet then flew into a mountain at 1700 feet. Flight data showed they were traveling at 161 knots (185mph).

A second aviation source said Bryant’s chopper had twin engines, so they would not have crashed if they had lost one engine. The source said, “All the signs point to a CFIT [controlled flight into terrain] which is when an aircraft under the complete control of a pilot is inadvertently flown into the land, sea, or a building. These accidents happen when the pilot loses situational awareness. The crash site also points to this, given how the debris is scattered, it looks like they went nose-first into the mountain.”

The source added, “Kobe’s helicopter is 29 years old, and most Sikorsky S-76s fly with two pilots. On Sunday, Kobe had just one pilot, who was likely flying on visual flight rules, rather than using instruments to monitor altitude.”

apparently that helo was rated for 0/0 height/vis and I assume the pilot had a "Special Instrument Card" allowing him to take off in 0/0. Other than extreme operational requirements (as in we are in a war and men are dying so you need to launch), there is absolutely ZERO NEED to take off in those conditions.

I worked many car wrecks when I was a paramedic. I have pulled many, many dead people out of cars. Not pretty.

But I worked one airplane crash. A twin engine Beech flew into the ground in a thunderstorm, at 225 mph. A man was the pilot, two females aboard, and one little boy.
The biggest piece of body was about the size of a football, but smashed flat. We ran by Home Depot and got a roll of heavy duty black plastic garbage bags.
At the crash scene, we labelled one bag "MAN," we labelled one bag "BOY," we labelled on "WOMAN #1" and the last, "WOMAN #2."
Then we spent six hours picking up pieces. Sometimes we had to guess which bag the piece went in to.

When I first heard of what happened on FNC and saw the weather my first thought was CFIT. Watched a short video clip with audio from the radar room and it pretty much confirmed that.

I think the pilot fugged up!

I'm hearing the same from veteran helo pilots that I know. Tragic none the less.

Well if I have to die in a plane crash, CFIT is the way I want to go.

That's a terrible day!

Yeah man. Instant lights out has gotta be better than a prolonged screaming death spiral getting thrown around the cabin.

Yes, it is foggy, the passengers are not aware that there is a problem. Instant lights out. That is a good way to die.

Lot of speculation here... even if it was CFIT they might have clipped terrain or power lines before crashing. Could have been instant, could have been much worse.

Either way flying SVFR in mountainous terrain is stupid.

I guess Kobe didn't spend the extra money for a terrain awareness and warning system?

Yep - I'm VFR or I'm IFR, the middle ground is where bad stuff happens.

Note: Just because he was too low for flight following doesn't make it especially dangerous. There are lots of places out there without low coverage.

It all boils down to why a chopper was flying in that kind of weather- - - - - -"Rules don't apply to rich folks!" I doubt if anyone on that bird qualified as "Joe Sixpack", and the upper crust have a way of believing they're immortal, whether if applies to flying, driving exotic cars, or indulging in drugs and other risky lifestyle choices. Too bad he's gone, but a little common sense about how to get to that airport might have saved a lot of lives.
Jerry

Where is the far side cartoon of the pilots wondering what mountain goats are doing all the way up here?

SO because I don't know, but this was a helicopter so instead of circling for 15 minutes why couldn't they hover in place for 15 minutes, until conditions cleared enough to land safely?

That's what I'm wondering. If in doubt, why didn't he just hover, until he got his bearings.

A crawdad has loose gravel in his head so gravity lets his brain know which way is up.

Hover in fog? I don't think so. Unless there's an autopilot hover mode coupled to a GPS, you have to be able to see the ground to hover.

If my helo knowledge is out of date, somebody please correct me.

Wonder if he got the “leans” from circling for so long