One year has passed since the devastating crash of the helicopter that killed Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others on board.
On the anniversary of the death of the NBA icon, the cause of the tragedy is still a mystery – but it may not be for long.
The National Council for Transport Safety will hold a virtual hearing next month to determine the probable cause of the accident.
“The ‘probable cause’ is not the blame – it is rather the most likely scenario that caused the crash,” Anthony Brickhouse, a former NTSB investigator, told The Post on Monday.
The NTSB has already ruled out mechanical and engine failures in the convicted helicopter and, in May, released more than 1,800 pages of evidence collected during its investigation.
“What NTSB does is take all that data and analyze it,” Brickhouse said.
“He looks at the human element, he looks at the car – so the helicopter itself – and he looks at the environment in which the helicopter actually operated.”
“I didn’t see anything suggesting that something mechanical went wrong with the helicopter,” Brickouse continued. “So what you’re doing is focusing on the human element and the environmental element.”
“Put the puzzle back together. You crushed that information. ”
“We will get this on February 9,” the day of the hearing.
In the meantime, here’s what we know about the accident so far:
Flight:
On Sunday, January 26, 2020, around 9:06, Bryant, 41, his daughter and six other passengers took off with a twin-engine Sikorsky S-76B engine from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California.
The legendary Los Angeles Laker was on his way to a youth basketball tournament at his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, about 85 miles away.
Among others on board were assistant basketball coach Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester and her daughter, Payton, and baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and their daughter, Alyssa.
About 15 minutes after takeoff on a cloudy day, pilot Ara Zobayan – who was employed by Island Express Helicopters and had previously flown to Bryant – asked permission from air traffic controllers at Burbank Airport to enter its airspace.
Due to poor visibility, Zobayan had to apply for what is known as a “special VFR” permission to fly, even under conditions.
After flying for about 11 minutes due to air traffic, the helicopter was given permission to enter Burbank Airspace and then continued north to Van Nuys Airport.
The accident:
The pilot told air traffic controllers around 9:44 a.m. that he was “climbing” 4,000 feet to avoid a layer of clouds.
In reality, the helicopter climbed slightly before turning sharply to the left and descending rapidly – crashing into a hill at about 9:45 am
According to the NTSB, the pilot “could have misperceived both the tilt angles and the running angles”, becoming spatially disoriented and feeling that the aircraft was climbing when it was not.
“When a pilot misperceives altitude and acceleration, it is known as ‘somatographic illusion’ and can cause spatial disorientation,” the preliminary report said.
Brickhouse explained: “When you have a clear sky and good visibility, you can see what you need to see.
“But, unfortunately, when you’re in the clouds, sometimes physiologically, your brain, based on your inner ear, gets a little confused.”
“I’ve seen it in accidents in the past,” he added, “where pilots get into these conditions and have problems.”
The weather:
The weather on the day of the crash was another fact that investigators analyzed – with evidence compiled in a 394-page weather report.
The videos and photos “show fog and low clouds hiding the tops of the hills,” the report notes, adding that Zobayan struggled with a “low cloud ceiling.”
The lawsuits filed by Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, and the families of the other victims claimed that Zobayan should not have flown in these conditions.
Both the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the police department grounded their fleet that day due to fog and low clouds.
The helicopter:
Meanwhile, the damn helicopter had a strong safety record and had even carried Bryant before – including after his last game with the Lakers in 2016.
“Nothing in the history of this model catches my eye as negative,” Brickhouse said.
However, the helicopter did not have a “black box” or a flight recorder and also did not have TAWS, a ground awareness system that alerts pilots when they fly too close to the ground.
It is needed in medical helicopters, but not in commercial helicopters, such as the one used by Bryant, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
At its Feb. 9 meeting, the NTSB will also make recommendations “to try to prevent a similar event from happening in the future,” Brickhouse said.
“I’m curious about what the likely cause will be, what the contributing factors will be, and what will happen to these recommendations below.”