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Pilot In Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Wasn’t Allowed To Fly By Instruments
Forbes ^ | 01/29/20 | Jeremy Bogaisky

Posted on 01/30/2020 7:15:21 AM PST by Moonman62

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Pilots who fly IFR need to do it frequently in order to remain proficient.
1 posted on 01/30/2020 7:15:21 AM PST by Moonman62
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To: Moonman62

Simply mind boggling. Pilot with inability to fly IFR on a helo with no terrain warning system. Shame on Kobe if he was aware of this and still boarded with his daughter and friends.


2 posted on 01/30/2020 7:19:54 AM PST by okkev68
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To: Moonman62

Lawyers are circling. I believe Kobe was renting the helicopter that he formerly owned. The company that owned it will be declaring bankruptcy very soon.


3 posted on 01/30/2020 7:21:18 AM PST by woodbutcher1963 (HATE)
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To: Moonman62
"Ara Zobayan, was licensed to fly by cockpit instruments"

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

4 posted on 01/30/2020 7:21:45 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: okkev68

Probably Kobe and company had no clue what was going on. It is up to the pilot to determine if it is safe to fly.


5 posted on 01/30/2020 7:24:15 AM PST by C19fan
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To: Moonman62
The headline is at best misleading, at worse an out an out lie, as we later read: Ara Zobayan, was licensed to fly by cockpit instruments.

I had always mistakenly thought it was Kobe's helicopter and he was the pilot. At least this article cleared that up for me. All other articles I read I basically glanced at

6 posted on 01/30/2020 7:24:26 AM PST by Robert DeLong
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To: thefactor

Plenty of instrument rated pilots crash because they aren’t proficient. They must fly instruments frequently in order to remain proficient.


7 posted on 01/30/2020 7:24:49 AM PST by Moonman62 (Charity comes from wealth.)
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To: woodbutcher1963

His estate is worth half a billion or more. Anybody suing will probably go after that since that is way more than a bankrupt helicopter company has.


8 posted on 01/30/2020 7:25:23 AM PST by lodi90
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To: Moonman62

Hard to understand why he simply did not request permission to climb above the fog, then be given his coordinates and a course to land in a clear area. Something does not make sense. Was someone else sitting in the co pilot’s seat?


9 posted on 01/30/2020 7:25:47 AM PST by allendale (.)
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To: Robert DeLong

Read #7.

Not to mention that it violated company policy, although that’s a claim not yet proved.


10 posted on 01/30/2020 7:26:06 AM PST by Moonman62 (Charity comes from wealth.)
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To: thefactor
"Ara Zobayan, was licensed to fly by cockpit instruments"

I'm licensed to carry a concealed handgun, it doesn't make me a Navy Seal or Jerry Miculek.

11 posted on 01/30/2020 7:26:45 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: Moonman62

Audio of the final half minute of flight.

Turn up the volume and the crash can be heard at 28 seconds. It’s not loud, though.

https://twitter.com/BillFOXLA/status/1222345578744446976


12 posted on 01/30/2020 7:27:06 AM PST by Moonman62 (Charity comes from wealth.)
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To: Moonman62

It is unusual to have a commercial rating without an instrument rating. In most cases the insurance requirements and restrictions would be too onerous to run a a successful business. I can’t imagine running a charter operation with VFR-only rated pilots. I certainly wouldn’t fly with them.


13 posted on 01/30/2020 7:27:32 AM PST by HonorInPa
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To: Moonman62
It's a question or wording, IMHO, and writers should be more careful.

The pilot was LICENSED to fly by instruments, but he may not have been very PROFICIENT at it because his company has a policy against it. To say he wasn't ALLOWED to is ambiguous at best and implies he wasn't certified to fly by instruments.

14 posted on 01/30/2020 7:28:13 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: thefactor

Every commercial pilot is certified to fly by instruments. If this is correct this company wasn’t authorized to operate its helicopters under instrument required flight conditions. Meaning he wouldn’t get much instrument flying practice unless he paid for it himself or trained with a buddy who was paying for it.


15 posted on 01/30/2020 7:28:19 AM PST by lodi90
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To: allendale

Hard to understand why he simply did not request permission to climb above the fog,

...

That was his last request, but he got disoriented most likely. He never made it above the clouds.

Before that he was below the clouds flying over hwy 101. I think the ceiling kept getting lower and he got trapped in the clouds.


16 posted on 01/30/2020 7:29:29 AM PST by Moonman62 (Charity comes from wealth.)
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To: C19fan

I read that Kobe would only fly with this pilot.

There is also the rumor that Kobe was actually certified to fly helicopters. Has that been confirmed?


17 posted on 01/30/2020 7:30:49 AM PST by okkev68
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To: thefactor

Agree. Not allowed is by the company policy and agreements with the FAA. Nonetheless, a series of decisions led to a tragic ending.

Transitioning suddenly from VFR to IFR is fraught with dangers, even for the best pilots properly certified to fly both. Helicopters, even new ones, don’t exactly fly themselves.

Also, one thing I haven’t seen discussed, is how often helicopters DO proceed in marginal conditions. The nature of the helicopter makes this generally safer than in fixed-wing craft. They can stop, hover, or actually be set down in a safe spot if going on is to difficult. See, e.g., Alaska flight rules and the use of helicopters.


18 posted on 01/30/2020 7:32:20 AM PST by oldplayer
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To: Moonman62

Dumb question not knowing anything about flying helicopters. Why couldn’t he just stop and hover? Could he have stopped all horizontal and vertical movement? At least until he figured out what to do?


19 posted on 01/30/2020 7:32:51 AM PST by okkev68
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To: allendale

“Hard to understand why he simply did not request permission to climb above the fog, then be given his coordinates and a course to land in a clear area”

He would not have been able to reach his original destination once he went IFR and under positive control of ATC. He would then need to land at an airport with an instrument landing system.

It appears to me this was a classic case of “gotta get there itis.” To get there he would have to remain VFR. In all probability he ran into IFR conditions while trying to fly VFR.


20 posted on 01/30/2020 7:34:13 AM PST by cpdiii ( canecutter, deckhand, roughneck, geologist, pilot, pharmacist THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR)
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