Bryant's Helicopter In Rapid Descent Before Fatal Crash

Helicopter in fatal flight that killed basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and eight others descended at nearly 5,000 fpm prior to crash.

By Mark Huber • Contributor

January 28, 2020

Retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend Kobe Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, were two of nine aboard a 1991 Sikorsky S-76B—registered as N72EX—who died Sunday at approximately 9:45 a.m. local time when the helicopter went down just south of the 101 freeway in Calabasas, California. The accident helicopter was being operated under Part 135 as an on-demand charter flight.

It lifted off from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, at 9:08 a.m. en route to the Camarillo Airport (KCMA), near Bryant’s basketball academy in Thousand Oaks, California, when it hit terrain in conditions described as low ceilings and heavy fog. The helicopter, which was registered to Island Express Holding, was flying with one pilot aboard—identified as 50-year-old Ara Zobayan of Huntington Beach, California. Zobayan held instrument helicopter and commercial ratings, as well as an FAA second-class aeromedical certificate with limitations for corrective lenses for near vision.

The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.

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