Category: Aviation Accident

The pilot of a helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and eight others that crashed into a Calabasas hillside Jan. 26 killing everyone on board, violated federal flight rules in 2015 when he flew into busy airspace near LAX in spite of being told not to by air traffic control. According to this information obtained by the Los Angeles Times from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, Ara Zobayan was flying northbound in an AS350 chopper when he was denied clearance to go into the airspace because weather conditions had reduced visibility below what is known as visual flight rules or VFR. …Read the rest »

The helicopter that was carrying Kobe Bryant did not have the recommended warning system to alert the pilot he was too close to land. But, according to a KTLA news report, it’s not clear that the system would have helped avert the crash that killed nine including Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. The chopper plunged into a mountain near Calabasas on a foggy morning when the group was headed to Bryant’s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks for a basketball game. …Read the rest »

Kobe Bryant, 41, the legendary Los Angeles Laker basketball player nicknamed “Black Mamba,” his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others died after the helicopter in which they were traveling crashed in the hills above Calabasas and burst into flames the morning of Jan. 26. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and 13-year-old daughter, Alyssa, who played on a club basketball team with Bryant’s daughter, were among the victims as was Christina Mauser, Bryant’s top assistant coach on the travel team. …Read the rest »

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has maintained for months now that it had no idea that a new automated system in the 737 Max, which played a role in two devastating deadly crashes, was unsafe. However, according to a report in The New York Times, the company gave lawmakers a transcript showing that a top pilot working on the plane had raised concerns about the system in messages to a colleague back in 2016 – over two years before the Max was grounded because of two major accidents that left 346 people dead. …Read the rest »

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has admitted that the company made a “mistake” in handling a problematic cockpit warning system in its 737 Max jets before two crashes killed a total of 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia. According to an ABC news report, Muilenburg was speaking to reporters at the Paris Air Show when he said Boeing’s communication with regulators, customers and the public was not consistent and that is “unacceptable.” …Read the rest »

The grandniece of former presidential candidate and renowned consumer rights advocate, Ralph Nader, was among the 157 people who died when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing Air Max 8 crashed on March 10. According to a report in the New York Daily News, Samya Stumo was only 24 and had recently graduated from the University of Copenhagen with a Master’s degree in Global Health. …Read the rest »

A plane smashed into the side of a warehouse and burst into flames in a devastating fatal crash that left building occupants fleeing for safety. The small two-person plane took off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport on December 1, but its left engine failed and burst into flames in mid-air. Pilot Eladio Marquez tried to land the plane safely, but it reached the ground at high speeds and skidded across a street before crashing into the side of a warehouse. The impact caused the plane to erupt in a large fiery explosion, killing the veteran pilot and his passenger. The building was being used at the time for a behavioral session helping autistic youngsters, but quick-thinking staff members were able to rush all occupants to safety. …Read the rest »

Five people were killed when a twin-engine aircraft, whose pilot declared an emergency, crashed into a busy parking lot near the South Coast Plaza shopping center the afternoon of Aug. 5. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, all the fatalities were aboard the aircraft, a Cessna 414 that was on approach to John Wayne Airport. There were no survivors. There was no fire and no one on the ground was injured. …Read the rest »

Southwest Airlines, particularly pilot Tammie Jo Shults, is getting a lot of kudos from passengers and the nation at large for the pilot and crew’s courageous efforts to minimize injuries and loss of life. According to news reports, the Dallas-bound Boeing 737 was just outside New York when an engine blew sending shrapnel along the fuselage and smashing a window. One passenger, Jennifer Riordan, was sucked out and killed while seven were wounded. Others were certainly rattled and traumatized by the ordeal they suffered until Shults valiantly landed the plane. …Read the rest »

Three British tourists were killed and three others were injured in a Grand Canyon helicopter crash the night of Feb. 10. According to a report in the Daily Mail, the deceased were identified as veterinary receptionist Becky Dobson, 27, and brothers Jason Hill, 32, and Stuart Hill, 30. Those who survived were identified as Jennifer Barham, 39, pilot Scott Booth, 42, and newlyweds Ellie Milward, 29, and Jonathan Udall, 32. …Read the rest »