Kobe Bryant is dead

Jeepers-n-Creepers said:
I was fortunate enough to have caught SRV in concert during the tour in which his chopper went down. I saw him roughly 1 month before he met with his fate. It was an amazing concert.

Last Summer I caught his older brother Jimmy (aka "JLV") at a club here in Austin known as "C-Boys." Got to meet him between one of his sets. He was very humble and down to earth, like Stevie.
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Damn, I'm envious! I was way too young at that time to have been interested, but SRV is one of my all time favorites. such a tragedy.
 
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NDSpeed said:
It isn’t for long distance travel. And one has to remember to never pressure the pilot to fly in bad weather.
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You’re right. The fog that morning was so low. It was really foggy. Can’t imagine how it will be like trying the fly a helicopter in the fog. The distance he flew is not long. Probably an hour thirty minutes max mostly because of LA traffic. No traffic I’d say 40min. He did a interview with A-rod saying he fly by helicopter to be able to pick up his daughters from school and still be able to train hard. It will take Kobe 15min from his location to arrive at his destination compared to 45min. I really really hate to say this but that might have cost him his life.
 
Seems like the fog was the main factor. This guy gave a good theory on what he thinks happened. The fog was probably just right above the electrical poles outside that morning. In the video Kobe’s helicopter crashed in those hills. From that street corner you wouldn’t be able to see those hills at all.
 
They have the cockpit audio on YouTube.
When your fully engulfed in clouds it becomes completely disorientating, since aviation moves on three planes of motion the body will lie to you. Especially since a helicopter doesn’t really want to fly. They WANT to be upside down.

a helicopter pilot has roughly three seconds to recover from going into the clouds. Listening to the audio he had clouds 800-900’ above him.
It only takes seconds.
 
06TJ35's said:
I really really hate to say this but that might have cost him his life.
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That's ridiculous. Barring a report of catastrophic mechanical or electrical malfunction, I'd say pilot error (controlled flight into terrain) cost all the unfortunate passengers their lives.
 
L J said:
That's ridiculous. Barring a report of catastrophic mechanical or electrical malfunction, I'd say pilot error (controlled flight into terrain) cost all the unfortunate passengers their lives.
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I would like to see how it was equipped. I would think it had TAWS (Terrain Avoidance and Warning System) installed. Answered my own question. When it sold in 2015, it did not have TAWS.
 
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Oh that article makes me mad. The pilot had to ask for special VFR. Tower isn’t even allowed to suggest it. Had to come from the pilot. That article reads like it is shifting the blame.
 
What happened is tragic for all families involved, but I wonder if Kobe's celebrity had any influence on the pilot to continue instead of turning around.

I'm not saying Kobe pressured the pilot, but the pilot didn't want to disappoint a celebrity.

Years ago, when Senator Heinz was killed in a plane crash, some actions were taken during the flight that probably wouldn't have happened if Joe Public was on the plane, and not a US Senator.
 
The NTSB will do their investigation, and in 6 months we will have the real story.

sadly that usually is the case though, outside pressure to get it done. It takes a strong pilot to stand up and say no. When feeling the outside pressure be it from a commander or a high profile passenger.
 
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Chris said:
Damn, I'm envious! I was way too young at that time to have been interested, but SRV is one of my all time favorites. such a tragedy.
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A tragedy indeed--and right at the apex of total detachment from drugs--thinking clearly, and playing better than ever :(
 
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