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. Our deepest condolences go out to all families that lost loved ones in this horrific and devastating crash. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. The Bryant family is a long-time Newport Beach resident.
Ongoing Investigation
Bryant was scheduled to coach in a game at his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks and was en route to the center when the helicopter crashed. The crash occurred near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street in Calabasas. Officials received a 911 call and firefighters arrived to find that the crash had ignited a brush fire in the hills. The authorities said it was extremely foggy in the area at the time of the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the incident. The helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76B built in 1991, left John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The fog was so severe that morning that the LAPD grounded its helicopters, according to the department’s spokesman, who added the weather did not meet their minimum standards for flying. Sikorsky, the chopper’s manufacturer, has said it is cooperating with the NTSB’s investigation.
Devastating Tragedy
The Newport Beach personal injury attorneys at Bisnar Chase understand that not just our community, county and region, but the entire nation and world mourn the loss of a legend. Seven others, including the pilot of the chopper, were also killed in a helicopter crash. The NTSB is investigating this crash, but it could take several months, or even a year, for the agency to release its findings.
There are still a number of unanswered questions here. What caused this helicopter crash? Did the dense fog play a part? Was there a helicopter, a part defect, or a malfunction that contributed to this crash? Who made the decision to fly the chopper in foggy conditions? We trust officials to investigate these issues to determine precisely what caused this horrific and devastating tragedy.
