Kobe Bryant dead in helicopter crash

Crashed in the hills of Calabasas. I love at the foothills and I cannot are the hills today, I sure hope this wasn’t a CFIT.

We see him at KSNA all the time after he lands.
 
You cannot even see the hills today
886ff3b2a6e960cae35005ca7bcc3c1d.jpg
 
Looks like rather low ceilings in the pictures...
Sad news.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
Crashed in the hills of Calabasas. I love at the foothills and I cannot are the hills today, I sure hope this wasn’t a CFIT.

We see him at KSNA all the time after he lands.
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Did he fly the Sikorski himself, or have pilots flying for him?

mryan75 said:
They're saying it caught fire...
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Before the impact? Possible, but doesn't seem probable.
 
GRG55 said:
Did he fly the Sikorski himself, or have pilots flying for him?



Before the impact? Possible, but doesn't seem probable.
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I don't believe that he is a pilot; he's not in the FAA database.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
800’ right now. And a lot of hills higher than that right there.
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Well, given that the ceilings are given AGL, it would depend on where it was measured. In the vicinity of the crash, 800' would have left any nearby hilltops in the clear. But the picture above makes the area look mighty hazy.
I'm assuming that if they did hit a hill they didn't continue flying; there are higher peaks several miles away.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Well, given that the ceilings are given AGL, it would depend on where it was measured. In the vicinity of the crash, 800' would have left any nearby hilltops in the clear. But the picture above makes the area look mighty hazy.
I'm assuming that if they did hit a hill they didn't continue flying; there are higher peaks several miles away.
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It is very hazy right now. Less than 1sm visibility where I am.
 
Witnesses now describe hearing a "sputtering" sound just before the crash.
 
A friend said he heard Kobe's kids were in there. Haven't found news on that. Man I hope it isn't true.
 
KVNY 261958Z 00000KT 6SM HZ OVC014 13/09 A3015 RMK AO2 T01330094
KVNY 261951Z 00000KT 2 1/2SM HZ OVC014 13/09 A3016 RMK AO2 SLP209 T01330094
KVNY 261907Z VRB03KT 2 1/2SM HZ OVC015 13/09 A3018 RMK AO2 T01330089
KVNY 261851Z 00000KT 2 1/2SM HZ OVC014 13/09 A3018 RMK AO2 SLP218 T01280089
KVNY 261751Z 00000KT 2 1/2SM HZ OVC013 12/09 A3016 RMK AO2 SLP212 T01220089 10122 20111 51010
KVNY 261651Z 00000KT 2 1/2SM HZ OVC011 12/09 A3016 RMK AO2 SLP211 T01170089
KVNY 261621Z 17003KT 2 1/2SM HZ OVC011 12/09 A3015 RMK AO2 T01170089
 
Unbelievable. Used to be based in SNA and saw him with the helicopter many times over the years.
 
The chopper he was in had twin turbine motors. What are the odds of a dual engine failure?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
I have a stupid question, was he still an active player? clearly I don’t follow basketball. either way this is pretty horrible
 
eman1200 said:
I have a stupid question, was he still an active player? clearly I don’t follow basketball. either way this is pretty horrible
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Retired after 20 years with the Lakers. They retired both numbers he used.

Peter Anderson said:
The chopper he was in had twin turbine motors. What are the odds of a dual engine failure?
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There are LOTS of other things that can go wrong in a helicopter that will bring it down. Despite two engines, they drive one gearbox, for example.
 
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Ugh, this is horrible!

A recently published photo near the accident time.

I’m really wondering if this is another CFIT accident...

ECE453CE-B6A0-46D5-AC64-DA6B185E22F7.jpeg
 
Reports now saying Kobe's daughter, Gianna Maria was also on board. :(
 
Scary Mary has been rolled out now
 
That’s sad. That helo is a pretty capable bird though to have “engines sputtering” though.
 
mryan75 said:
It's kind of hard to look at where it hit and make sense of what was going on. It flew straight into a range of high terrain. View attachment 82273
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Yeah, it’s interesting how they followed the 101 Freeway and then the last few radar returns show it turning toward that mountain range.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
I've seen helicopter pilots fly VFR in worse. I wouldn't (I don't even fly in 3 mile fixed-wing VFR weather.)
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Same here. I was going to fly today and around my departure time the TAF at KCRQ was 261820Z 2618/2718 VRB04KT 6SM BR OVC015. I stayed home. pattern alt is 015. sad that this happened. We shall see when they get some investigating done and see what transpires.
 
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