Was at a pilot site last night. Charted helo, he didn’t own onw anymore. Pilots in general agreement that this was a CFIT, “controlled flight into ground”. Flight path shows plane circled for about 11 minutes waiting for space to fly in. May have lost directional awareness.
Pilot flew north and made left turn into higher terrain. Fog level was below hilltops. Flying way too fast, 150 mph, for visual conditions. Not on instruments, which is a bit of a mystery.
Ground photo indicates CFIT too. Pilots all very sad. Kobe was long-time helo user, probably because safer and faster than dealing with the traffic. They shouldn’t have flown this day obviously.
agree, really poor decision on the part of the helo pilot. he obviously got disoriented, etc. shouldn’t have been in the air in the first place. pilot’s lack of respect for the situation killed 8 other people, including 3 kids.
Also, no mayday or trouble call. No time, he flew it right into the side of hill. The photo shows that, as the pilots noted.