Posted on 01/26/2020 11:41:50 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Kobe Bryant died in a helicoper crash in Calabasas Sunday morning ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.
Kobe was traveling with at least 3 other people in his private helicopter when it went down. A fire broke out. Emergency personnel responded, but nobody on board survived. 5 people are confirmed dead. We're told Vanessa Bryant was not among those on board.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at tmz.com ...
But it would explain why it's taking so long for the authorities to notify the next of kin before making a public announcement.
-PJ
Just trying to get a nibble thanks for playing
You too, Hate to tell you son I’m a boomer lmao, Prayers to all involved in this crash
There is a bunch of things that do not match up; especially since the girl went to the hospital and was examined right after the incident. He repeatedly lied to police when they questioned him the next day and only admitted it after they said they had semen and blood samples.
“as I know nothing about helicopter driving”
That makes two of us. I’ve simply been following the news here in SoCal and getting feedback from an airline captain pal who has some familiarity with helicopters.
I am mentally speculating right along with you. I’m trying not to dwell on that possibility to be honest. The other alternative is other members of his daughter’s BBall team....
Complex
@Complex
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3m
Orange County baseball coach John Altobelli, his daughter Alyssa and wife Keri died in helicopter crash along with Kobe Bryant.
Well it does make sense....that somehting happened that he lost control. Oddly enough I was viewing Helicopter landings and crashes yesterday. It doesn’t seem to take much for these to get out of hand.
https://heavy.com/sports/2020/01/john-altobelli/
John Altobelli, the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College, perished with his wife and daughter in the helicopter crash that killed former NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, CNN is reporting.
Tragically, according to CNN, Altobelli’s daughter Alyssa Altobelli and wife Keri Altobelli were also aboard the helicopter with the Bryants when it crashed on the morning of January 26, 2020.
The website for Orange Coast College Pirate Athletics says that Altobelli was the school’s head baseball coach. He was a former University of Houston baseball player.
The Houston Chronicle reported that Altobelli’s daughter was a player on Bryant’s basketball team. Kobe also coached Gianna, a promising young basketball player who hoped to continue her dad’s legacy by making it to the WNBA.
Nine people were on board the helicopter that killed the Bryants and Altobellis. The other victims have not yet been identified.
“He had one moment of weakness.”
You know this how? Ain’t buying it.
-PJ
Any relation to Joe Altobelli? Son?
The pilot never lost control. The fog was thicker, the cloud cover lower, and he couldn’t see the ground. He never saw the hill that he flew into.
Witnesses said that they had heard the copter flying overhead and knew it was very low because of how loud it sounded. But they couldn’t see it because the fog and cloud cover were too heavy.
Jeff Jones
@jmjones
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7m
John Altobelli, who died in today’s helicopter crash, is the father of Red Sox scout JJ Altobelli, who was a #stlcards draft pick in 2013. Played that year at Johnson City for Joe Kruzel, currently Springfield’s manager.
TMZ:
4:30 PM PT — L.A. weather was extremely foggy Sunday morning, and law enforcement sources tell us even LAPD air support was grounded because of it. Flight tracker data shows Kobe’s chopper appeared to first encounter weather issues as it was above the L.A. Zoo. It circled that area at least 6 times at a very low altitude — around 875 feet — perhaps waiting for the fog to clear.
We know the pilot contacted the control tower at Burbank Airport around 9:30 AM PT, and the tower was aware the pilot had been circling for about 15 minutes. The pilot eventually headed north along the 118 freeway before turning to the west, and started following above the 101 freeway around Woodland Hills, CA.
At around 9:40 AM they encounter more weather — as in seriously heavy fog — and the chopper turned south. This was critical, because they turned toward a mountainous area. The pilot suddenly and rapidly climbed from about 1200 feet up to 2000 feet.
However, moments later — around 9:45 AM — they flew into a mountain at 1700 feet. Flight tracker data shows they were flying at about 161 knots.
“VASAviation” YouTuber has the ATC comms posted....the loops over Glendale were a 15+ minute holding pattern for other traffic.
Now I am really, really sad. Watched John Altobelli coach many Cape league baseball games
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