Kobe Bryant dies in Chopper crash?

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Vasa Croe

When you try to stay just below the clouds and stay in VFR conditions.

Makes sense....just heard that they were told they were flying too low and climbed to 2k feet then the the mountain at 1700 feet at around 180MPH. Likely due to weather.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Vasa Croe

When you try to stay just below the clouds and stay in VFR conditions.

Makes sense....just heard that they were told they were flying too low and climbed to 2k feet then the the mountain at 1700 feet at around 180MPH. Likely due to weather.

Heard last night it was fog. This is very sad. Saw pics of his family. So so sad.
Heard even military choppers were grounded due to the fog. My husband is a basketball guy. Edit: husband just said Bryant’s daughter was on a team with the baseball coaches daughter.

One of the first pictures of the scene showed heavy fog and some sizable terrain. And while the helicopter appears to have crashed in a relatively flat area, the area surrounding the crash site is anything but flat.

I think what we're going to find here is the helicopter may have grazed a hilltop at low level and then crashed in the clearing below it. I suspect low visibility and CFIT (as I noted previously) will ultimately be determined to be the cause of the crash.

Just speculation on my part, but that's the way it looks at present.

With the preliminary information available it seems like pilot error induced by foggy conditions, possibly flying into the side of a mountain that was hidden by the fog. I have no idea if there were terrain warnings before the crash.

The helicopter was 29 years old. We cannot rule out mechanical failure either.

I’m kind of surprised Kobe would rent a helicopter that old.

Additionally, I’m confused. The black helicopter that was shown as the helicopter in question, previously in this thread — was not the one he was in. All of the photos of the crash site show a white and blue helicopter.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

They climbed from 1200 to 2100 feet just before dropping at 4200 fpm.

a reply to: Zaphod58

May have been trying to put some distance between them and the ground after some kind of an incident / impact.

To clear up confusion, they were not in the black helicopter that was previously posted. This is the helicopter they were in.

chicago.suntimes.com...

I guess it could have been wrapped. If so, the wrap apparently came off looking at the wreckage.

a reply to: KKLOCO

The livery was part of a promotion more than likely. It was removed after Bryant retired (again more than likely).

The tail number is the thing to follow.

originally posted by: KKLOCO
To clear up confusion, they were not in the black helicopter that was previously posted. This is the helicopter they were in.

chicago.suntimes.com...

I guess it could have been wrapped. If so, the wrap apparently came off looking at the wreckage.

N72EX was the aircraft with new paint job. flightaware.com...

Of course, all the coverage touts how he was a true family man now. No mention of the alleged sexual assault in 2003 and his self-admitted cheating. But no doubt he was a heck of a basketball player.

originally posted by: UnBreakable
Of course, all the coverage touts how he was a true family man now. No mention of the alleged sexual assault in 2003 and his self-admitted cheating. But no doubt he was a heck of a basketball player.

Out of the 450 players in the NBA, I’d bet that at least 440 cheat on their spouses. It goes with the territory. They are famous, in good shape and garner a lot of attention.

I’ve personally known women that pay hundreds of dollars for tickets close to the bench. There hope is to be noticed by the players and make it into their hotel room that night.

Back in 09’, my ex had the opportunity to hang out with him while he was in town for a game. They were at a club. He had people working for him, picking girls out of the crowd, to come upstairs (in the VIP area) and ‘hang out’ with him.

Upstairs, there was basically a line of girls, just waiting to stroke him down. Much like you’d see in a strip club. Kobe had a visible erection through his sweat pants.

I’ve got other stories of other players that are very similar. They all cheat on their wives. Most the wives know about it. It’s an arrangement. You could easily tell that Kobe’s wife was merely a trophy that was told what to do. A man with his personality wouldn’t accept anything less.

*** Disregard ***
Zaphod already posted at the top of this page.



ATC view with Communications between ATC and N72EX
m.youtube.com...

Global warming caused it !

He was a guy who was good at a sport ! He cheated all the time on his wife and contributed no real help to society! Meanwhile people who are making real changes for the better of society will never see one mention in the news upon their death ! Doctors and private teachers should be paid 7 figures ! Who cares about a sports figure ! Do people mourn when a top scientist dies ?

a reply to: SulfurMercurySalt

Someone just posted about a housing project funded by the man himself for homeless young and vulnerable people.. at least he was good at a sport and contributed to his community.
Why wouldn't people mourn a top scientist? What Are you even going on about?
Didn't mean to feed it but Kobe was the man I had to reply

a reply to: KKLOCO

I’m not, while mechanical failure could definitely be the cause the S76 is a proven platform. Redundancy is build into multiple systems, most critically hydraulics and engines. Pretty sure an hour into flight they would have burned enough fuel that single engine flight would be a non issue in the event of an engine failure. The big ones (main gear box, tail rotor gear box/drive shaft, or blades) would make things a lot more difficult. Either way unfortunately sounds more like a CFIT accident or loss of situational awareness due to inadvertent IMC than anything else...only time will tell.