Pilot In Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Wasn’t Allowed To Fly By Instruments

Forbes ^ | 01/29/20 | Jeremy Bogaisky

[Moonman62]

The helicopter that crashed Sunday killing basketball star Kobe Bryant and eight others was owned by a charter company that only operated under visual flight rules, and its pilots were not permitted to fly solely based on their cockpit gauges if they encountered weather that limited visibility, a former pilot for the company told Forbes.

The pilot of the doomed flight, Ara Zobayan, was licensed to fly by cockpit instruments, but he likely had little real-world experience in doing so given the operating limitations of Island Express Helicopters, says Kurt Deetz, a former pilot for the company who flew Bryant for two years.

On a morning when heavy fog and low clouds were reported in parts of the Los Angeles area, and law enforcement agencies and helicopter tour companies weren’t flying their choppers, the last radio communication from Zobayan to air traffic controllers was that he was climbing to try to get above a layer of clouds.

“I don’t think he had any actual [experience] inside the clouds,” says Deetz, who notes that it can be unnerving for pilots limited to operating under visual flight rules, or VFR. “You spend your whole career thinking, ‘I shouldn’t do this.’ ”

[Ozark Tom]

The article mentions Zobayan was an instrument flight instructor, which requires proficiency to hold that rating.

[Amberdawn]

I believe it had to do with ATC. If the pilot chose to be guided by them, it would have taken far longer to get to his destination due to other air traffic.

[xp38]

Kawhi Leonard used the same company and pilot on the recommendation of Kobe. He is reevaluating that now.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28594985/not-all-come-together-yet-grieving-kawhi-leonard-ponders-helicopter-commuting

[BwanaNdege]

They must fly instruments frequently in order to remain proficient.

BINGO!

IIRC, You need to have logged so many hours and approaches in the past 90 days before flying passengers.

(FYI, I have at least 100 hours of ACTUAL Helo IFR time in UH-1 E/L and CH-53D. You have to be current to be safe!)

An IFR helo pilot MUST have the backbone to tell a high-profile client, "No, we cannot make that flight to using Special VFR. It will take longer, but we're filing IFR and doing it right." (presuming the pilot has the Ratings and is current)

[mabarker1]

Thank You, I was going to ask about that.

So I’ll ask about this, are choppers capable of using AUTO PILOT ?

[SkyDancer]

Some helicopters do have autopilots. They have come about as a result of efforts to stabilize the machines and make them easier and safer to fly in Instrument Flight Conditions. And that’s all I know about them.

[Svartalfiar]

This sentence and the headline do not exactly mesh with eachother.

Sure they do.
He was licensed to fly by instrument: he was trained/licensed on it.
Wasn't allowed to fly by instrument: company policy was no flying by instrument, visual rules only.

Being able to do something and being allowed to do it are completely separate things.

[mabarker1]

Cool, I was kinda thinking (yeah I know Mom told Me not to do that anymore) it would be difficult because of the Collective and the balancing game.

[mad_as_he$$]

Holes can and do fly themselves. I live near a Chinook base and have discussed this with several pilots. One even let the AP fly in a sandstorm AND land the helo because it was his only choice to get out of danger. He says he is still not un-pukered after three years.

https://www.cnet.com/news/new-chinooks-boast-autopilot-features-but-best-tech-may-be-yet-to-come/

That said. It is a very expensive feature.

[mad_as_he$$]

Holes=Helos.

Cold fingers. lol....

[treetopsandroofs]

I think Caroline didn’t know pilots use their feet to fly.

I do, and am pretty sure I wouldn’t have gotten onto a plane with a pilot with his foot in a cast.

[EVO X]

Here is about a 30 minute video of Juan Browne interviewing a helicopter pilot buddy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ymcG-YKOCM

A few takeaways from the video:

1. Flying SVFR isn’t all that uncommon in helicopters. That is what they are designed for. Reported SVFR conditions were well within the acceptable range until the pilot reached the CA 101 canyon heading up to Thousand Oaks.

2. He explains handling characteristics of helicopters in general.

3. Even though the pilot had IFR and instructors IFR certificates those flying skills deteriorate quickly if not frequently used.

[BwanaNdege]

Thanks, I watched it yesterday. He usually has very good analyses. He also had the wisdom to realize that fixed wing IFR and helo IFR are two different creatures, so he called in a expert.

I’ve flown into inadvertent IFR once, got on instruments immediately and climbed “on top”. Since it was late morning ground fog, I had no problem finding plenty of large holes to drop below the scattered cloud layer.

I’m not proud that I got into that situation. However, I was Navy/USMC helo & fixed wing instrument trained with significant actual IFR helo time. I also knew exactly where the high ground was around me and had plenty of horizontal “elbow room”.

“There are Old Pilots and there are Bold Pilots. There are no Old, Bold Pilots.”

‘Cumulo-granite’ clouds will get you every time.

[EVO X]

I am not a pilot but have plenty of experience riding along in less than ideal VFR conditions in small aircraft. I went on yearly fly in fishing trips to Ontario, Canada for many a year. There is no IFR when flying to a fishing camp. When weather gets crappy, the pilots had a system of flying the short flights first and reporting back conditions to pilots with longer flights. I've seen some tree tops on a few occasions while in route. There is some elevation change in that part of Canada, but nothing like flying in Alaska or California. We had some very long days waiting for weather to clear, but eventually we made it to our destinations. If the pilots had to be overly cautious, the industry would collapse.

I suspect the pilot's flight planning will be looked at extensively. ATC wasn't aware of heavy fog along the the CA 101 canyon route when they approved his flight path. Was he the first SVFR flight of the day to make the run up the 101?

We are going to have to wait a year or so to find out.

[wannabegeek]

Pilot not allowed to use IFR? I don’t think so? He was rated on IFR, but he might had bad judgment when ASKED IF to follow CA-118W towards Camarillo, I know that route. It’s pilot discretion, once you got in to IMC (instrument meteorological condition) due to poor visibility with radar vector “flight following” assist, you should already switched to IFR, supposedly SoCal would had advised Kobe’s pilot, “climb to 2,500 feet heading 190” bla-bla-blah... Unfortunately the pilot chosen to follow freeway 101 north he underestimated the fog enroute flying 1,500 feet MSL at supposedly 500 feet AGL (above the ground) the helicopter not equipped with GPWS (ground proximity warning system) if terrain at 12 o’clock it’d say, “TERRAIN, TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP, PULL UP, PULL UP,” Calabasas has 1,750 feet terrains, pilot might had panicked he climbed to 2,000 feet in to spatial disorientation by the fog, encountered downdraft as he passed the peak.