Posted on 01/27/2020 8:02:45 AM PST by C19fan
The helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others that crashed into a rugged hillside outside Los Angeles was flying in foggy conditions considered dangerous enough that local police agencies grounded their choppers.
Bryant's helicopter left Santa Ana in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, shortly after 9am, a time when conditions were not suitable for flying, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
There was an overcast at 1,300 feet and visibility of about five miles. The pilot, who was named as Ara Zobayan was flying under visual flight rules (VFR), meaning that he was relying on his ability to see the terrain below him.
Around 9.20am, the helicopter circled for about 15 minutes just east of Interstate 5, near Glendale.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Pilot error.
Spacial disorientation.
Old pilots. Bold pilots. But no old bold pilots.
Other article said he was warned about flying too low and therefore couldn’t be picked up by radar and given guidance.
Word of the day
GetThereItis
Lucky it didn’t crash somewhere where people on the ground could have been killed.
Reminds me of when John Kennedy Jr flew over to MV in the fog. They all said he shouldn’t fly in the fog and he was the pilot.
These pilots should not fly in the fog, imho.
True stats show 90% of all air craft crashes are.
Kennedys:
Can't Drive
Can't Fly
Can't Ski
Can't Skipper a Boat
But they know what's best for us.
Sounds a lot like what killed JFK Jr. If a pilot is not comfortable with instrument flying they should not be flying in bad weather.
Never been in a helicopter, but it seems to me, visual. ..would he just as important as instruments. ?
But they can swim?
Leads to scud-running, which rarely turns out well.
That’s the way these things go. It is a chain of failures that lead to the eventual crash.
The decision to fly in marginal conditions
The decision to proceed to destination
The decision to rely on VFR
Finally, you are left in a position where a single additional failure winds up being fatal. A loss of power, spatial disorientation, interfering traffic or who-knows-what, and you are out of speed, out of altitude, and out of time.
It is a depressingly familiar pattern that happens multiple times every month.
Not being disrespectful etc
BUT
I would imagine that those (other) players/coaches that were deemed not ‘qualified’ to fly with them are happy now(THAT THEY WERE NOT ABOARD).
Remember the Marshall Football team wiped out in similar circumstances.
RIP to all...
A five minute read of the Mail story gives more info than all other US sites, per usual.
It sounds as if those on board would not have known there was a problem, the pilot just flew into the hillside.
I wonder if some of the passengers applied pressure to the pilot to get going so they won’t miss the game.
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