ATC may have screwed up by giving him a Special VFR Clearance.
I worked ATC in the 70’s with Army aviation. Those pilots could fly thru anything, and often did in their Cobras. Everything, everything, is at pilot’s discretion. You don’t have to fly if you don’t like the situation.
From what little we are given, this seems to be pilot error, made more difficult by scattered scud.
I saw a video on the local news (I live in L.A.) that suggested to me that the pilot followed the wrong road - - that’s my speculation - - and when he realized it he turned into a problem.
We will see. Meanwhile, we will grieve for all the lost souls.
Thanks for the info.
Van Nuys is around 800 feet.
They reported overcast at 1100 feet.
From topo maps it looks like he was flying toward terrain up to 2000 feet.
I don’t think he ever reported that he made the transition to VFR, and he never contacted the center for flight following like he was supposed to do.
Make of it what you will.
Forum thread with some good info:
https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/629197-kobe-bryant-killed-s76-crash-4.html