Article in L.A. Times

Kobe Bryant’s helicopter was not equipped with terrain warning system that could have alerted pilot to hillside

By RICHARD WINTON, HANNAH FRY, ANDREW J. CAMPA, JACLYN COSGROVE
JAN. 28, 2020 6 PM
The helicopter that crashed Sunday in Calabasas, killing nine people including Kobe Bryant, was not equipped with a terrain alarm system that could have warned the pilot he was approaching a hillside, National Transportation Safety Board officials said Tuesday.

The findings come as investigators are trying to determine why the helicopter crashed into a Calabasas hillside Sunday morning amid foggy conditions.

NTSB investigator Jennifer Homendy said at Tuesday’s news conference that the helicopter was at 2,300 feet when it lost communication with air traffic controllers. The descent rate of the helicopter at the time of impact was more than 2,000 feet per minute.

“So we know that this was a high energy impact crash, and the helicopter was in a descending left bank,” Homendy said.


The chopper hit the hillside at an elevation of 1,085 feet, about 20-30 feet above an outcropping of the hill. But even if the pilot had been able to fly above that outcropping, he would have faced new hazards ahead.


NTSB Board Member Jennifer Homendy briefs media on the Jan. 26 helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif.
“There are actually higher hills surrounding it,” Tom English, a lead investigator, said.

She said that her agency had recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration 16 years ago require that all choppers carrying six or more passengers be equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system, adding that the FAA has “failed to act” on the proposal. Because the FAA didn’t follow the recommendation, the chopper that crashed Sunday was not legally required to have the system.

Shortly after her Tuesday conference, an FAA spokesman disputed that assessment, noting that the FAA requires the terrain alarm system for helicopter air ambulance operations.

Authorities investigating Sunday’s accident said the impact of the crash was intense, shattering the chopper and sending debris over a wide area.

The new revelations came as the bodies of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others who died in the crash were recovered.

Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant
CALIFORNIA
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The investigation into the cause of the crash is still in its early stages, but officials have revealed some details about the final moments of the flight, which was taking Bryant and his group from Orange County to his basketball camp in Thousand Oaks, where the retired NBA player was scheduled to coach a game in which Gianna was scheduled to play.

Accompanying the Bryants were John Altobelli, 56, longtime baseball coach at Orange Coast College; his wife, Keri, 46; their daughter Alyssa, 13; Christina Mauser, 38, an assistant basketball coach at the Mamba Academy; Sarah Chester, 45; Chester’s daughter Payton, 13; and the pilot, 50-year-old Ara Zobayan.

Just before crashing into the hillside, the pilot rapidly ascended to avoid a cloud layer, according to the NTSB.

la-me-Ara-Zobayan.JPG
Ara Zobayan, the pilot of the Sikorsky S-76 chopper that crashed in Calabasas.(Bernadette McKeever)
The helicopter — a Sikorsky S-76 chopper built in 1991 — departed John Wayne Airport in Orange County at 9:06 a.m. Sunday, according to publicly available flight records. The aircraft passed over Boyle Heights, near Dodger Stadium, and circled over Glendale during the flight. The NTSB database shows no prior incidents or accidents for the midsize helicopter.

Homendy said Zobayan requested special visual flight rules (VFR), which allow pilots to fly under 1,000 feet, during the trip to Ventura County because weather conditions had deteriorated to less than the minimum visibility for regular visual flying, according to recordings of radio communications between the air tower and the aircraft. At some point during the flight, the pilot requested “flight following,” a process in which controllers are in regular contact with an aircraft and can help them navigate.

Before the conversation ends, the tower is heard telling the pilot the helicopter is too low for flight following. Radar data indicate Zobayan, who had been a licensed commercial helicopter pilot for 19 years, guided the copter to 2,300 feet and then began a left turn. The helicopter then began rapidly descending.

A visual-flight-rules flight “is based on the principle of see and avoid.” When operation of an aircraft under visual flight rules isn’t safe, often because of inclement weather, a pilot can opt to fly under instrument rules (IFR). During this type of flight, the pilot navigates only by reference to the instruments in the cockpit, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Pilots “fly VFR when and if weather conditions allow, although they can choose to fly on an IFR flight plan at any time,” said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the FAA. “Also, it’s always up to the pilot to make the decision whether to fly VFR and to ensure the safety of the flight and adherence to federal aviation regulations.”