Text exchanges prior to the devastating helicopter accident that claimed the lives of basketball icon Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant, and seven others shed some light on the final moments before the crash. The pilot, Ara Zobayan, had conversations about the weather conditions both the day before and during the flight just before the tragic incident. Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and their companions were en route to the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.
On January 25th, Patti Taylor from OC Helicopters sent a group text message. She was the agent who arranged Bryant’s flights and ground transportation, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
She inquired, “Weather looks ok tomorrow?” To which the 50-year-old pilot Zobayan responded, “Just checked and not the best day tomorrow but it is not as bad as today.”
Zobayan had flown Bryant on the same route at least 10 times before, the Times stated.
“Advised weather could be an issue …” Taylor replied.
“Copy. Will advise on the weather early morning,” was Zobayan’s response.
Tess Davidson, Zobayan’s girlfriend, stressed to investigators that he could not be pressured into flying. Taylor informed the investigators that flights with Bryant were frequently called off or delayed due to weather conditions. Despite Bryant’s dislike of being told “no,” cancellations or delays occurred nonetheless.
Kurt Deetz, a former Island Express pilot who had flown Bryant, conveyed to investigators that Bryant entrusted weather-related decisions to the pilot believing the pilot was doing his job.
At 7:30 a.m. on January 26, 2020, Zobayan messaged the group, “Looking ok.” Less than an hour later, Taylor checked in and he replied, “Should be OK.” Ric Webb, OC Helicopters Owner, concurred, according to the Times.
“Wheels up,” Taylor texted at 9:06 a.m. as the Sikorsky S-76B departed from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana.
One of Bryant’s drivers messaged from Camarillo Airport, the helicopter’s destination, at 9:33 a.m., “Just started raining lightly here.”
“Uh, we climbing to 4,000,” Zobayan informed an air traffic controller at 9:44 a.m., indicating flying above cloud cover on a foggy day.
“What are you gonna do when you get to altitude?” asked the air traffic controller. No response was received despite multiple queries. The crash occurred at 9:45 a.m.
“Land?” the driver at Camarillo Airport was asked by the broker, three minutes after the planned arrival.
“Not yet,” was the prompt reply.
At 10:02, Taylor asked, “Ara, you ok.”
Zobayan’s girlfriend tried to contact him around that time, as per their routine, but the message did not go through.
A witness informed the NTSB via email that “there was zero visibility past the point where I saw it disappear into the low cloud at the trailhead” and observed “it was strange they flew directly into heavy clouds so close to hills …”
Another witness also emailed the agency: “We heard the helicopter flying normally, but couldn’t really see it because it was extremely foggy and with low clouds. I was wondering why a helicopter would be flying so low in such adverse weather conditions. Then, suddenly, we heard a loud BOOM.”
The study indicated that when Zobayan mentioned the helicopter was climbing, it was, in fact, descending, possibly due to misperceptions of pitch and roll angles by the pilot.
In essence, acceleration might have led the pilot to feel the craft was ascending when it was not.
