The Death of Kobe Bryant

When offered the choice of travelling in a commercial aeroplane or a private helicopter, which would you choose? With roughly 88% of the American population having taken a plane in the past, most would probably choose a helicopter for the luxury; but is it safe? Despite the safety requirements that are strictly imposed, it is still ,incredibly dangerous to fly in a helicopter – there are approximately 100 helicopter crashes every year, with very few survivors. These crashes tend to go unreported by the media due to lack of interest by the general public but in early 2020, just as the world was preparing for a global pandemic, a crash was reported that shook the sporting world to its core. Today we will be looking at the final moments of a sporting legend; Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant awoke on January 26th, 2020, before sunrise as he usually did, watching the waves from his ocean-view mansion. He prepared to visit his family church that morning, something he did every Sunday to reaffirm his faith and ask God for protection for his journey ahead. After his prayers, Kobe drove to the airport with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. They were chatting about their upcoming trip, excited to see how the weekend would go, and what was in store for them. Gianna was particularly excited to be travelling with her friends, people who would make the long trip so much more exciting. When they arrived, they could see lots of angry travellers, whose flights had been cancelled due to the poor weather conditions – there was an increasing amount of fog appearing in the sky which would greatly reduce visibility in the sky. Kobe and his daughter walked past them, thankful that their helicopter flight had not been cancelled too, and they both went into their private lounge to wait for the other passengers that would be coming with them. Aside from Kobe and Gianna, 7 other people would be taken with them; baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa; Payton Chester and her mother Sara; basketball coach Christina Mauser; and, of course, the pilot, Ara Zobayan. The pilot was trusted at the company, having worked for them for over 10 years and clocking up over 8000 hours of flight time. Despite this, he would soon be responsible for the deaths of everyone aboard his aircraft.

As the group piled into their helicopter, Kobe Bryant thought of how proud he was of Gianna. She was a happy and determined girl, who was following in her father’s footsteps with her basketball skills. Being one of the NBA’s most popular players and earning 4 MVP titles during his career, it was an understatement to say that basketball was important to him but, now that he had retired, he was focusing his attention on nurturing Gianna’s love for the sport. Today they were planning to travel to a basketball game in Thousand Oaks, California where his daughter would be playing a big game and they decided to fly the team together in a helicopter. They would be flying in a Sikorsky S-76 model which was owned by Island Express Helicopters, a private company that charges thousands of dollars for a private charter. Kobe had used this company many times and trusted them implicitly, as it was well-known for its impeccable safety record and he would never do anything to put Gianna at risk. Unfortunately, the pilot in charge of their safety would make a mistake that would cost them all their lives.

As the group prepared for the flight, they mentioned their concerns about the weather to the pilot but Ara reassured them that there was nothing to worry about. They looked at the sky and could see a thick layer of fog covering the sky. Normally, they wouldn’t even think about it, but the fact that they could hardly see the tops of the trees was a worrying sight. The idea of blindly flying into a white abyss did not fill the group with confidence. They checked again with the pilot but were told that even if they couldn’t physically see ahead of them, they had plenty of equipment that would be able to see for them so they truly had nothing to worry about. Content, they settled into the ride and readied themselves for the flight that would truly change the world.

At 9.06 am, the helicopter took off. They initially cruised just below the cloud level so everyone felt fine, the views of Los Angeles were stunning enough to keep everyone occupied. Although it was unsettling to see nothing out of the windows, the group trusted the pilot implicitly and just tried to relax through the ride. The longer they were flying, the more confident they felt about the conditions and how everything would be fine. Unfortunately, 40 minutes after they left the ground, things would take a turn for the worse. They were flying fast, nearly 200mph, when they received a call from air traffic control telling them that there was another flight heading their way so they were put into a holding pattern. This meant that the helicopter had to slow to 70mph and circle the area until it was allowed to continue, which they continued to do for about 11 minutes. The group paid no attention to this manoeuvre and continued to talk about the game and how they would win as a team. Meanwhile, another private jet was coming towards them and needed extra assistance due to the fog so air traffic control told the pilot to redirect to the north, sending them above San Fernando Valley. This is when everything would go wrong.

Ara had become disorientated by the changes in their flight course and with the thick fog blurring the line between the ground and sky, it was becoming more dangerous by the second. He made quick and reckless turns in the air as he tried to find the 118 freeway which would help them to navigate but all they could see was a blanket of white emptiness. Kobe and the other guests began to hold on tight to whatever they could and the father held onto his daughter to keep her calm and make her feel as safe as he could. They could hear the person on the radio telling the pilot that they were flying too low and he told them that he would begin to ascend again, suddenly shooting up 1000ft in less than 40 seconds. Kobe’s stomach turned as the pressure of the quick rise hit all on board and he worriedly looked out of the window to try and get his bearings, but there was nothing to see. Ara told everyone that he was trying to climb above the cloud layer but as he said it, all they could feel was that they were falling. Kobe couldn’t see a thing but the sick feeling in his stomach told him they were falling through the air, falling towards the ground. He grasped onto Gianna as everyone began to scream, knowing that they would soon smash into the ground. They all looked at each other in panic as they tried to convince themselves that this was not happening, but there was no denying it; they were all about to die. Ava was desperately trying to correct his mistake but it was too late, they were falling too fast to stop the inevitable now. At nearly 10 am, the helicopter crashed into a hill in Calabasas, killing everyone on board and ending the life of one of the best basketball players of all time.

Within minutes, calls began to flood into the sheriff’s department to report a helicopter crash and emergency services were quick to attend the scene. Even from a distance, they could see there was nothing to be done for whoever had been flying, but they had no idea what (or rather who) they were about to discover. While the sheriff was running errands, he received the dreaded text; “8 dead, confirmed Kobe”. His heart dropped. He knew he had to get on top of this before the media caught wind of what was happening. The whole team began to scramble to figure out how to contact Kobe’s family and inform them before they heard it on the news. They were able to get through to Vanessa Bryant in time, although her heartbroken cries were not easy for the sheriff to endure. 

Unfortunately, those on the scene were not nearly as respectful, as a jury later heard. They were caught taking and distributing photos of the crash minutes after it happened, including photos of Kobe and Gianna’s bodies. Horrified, Kobe’s widow launched into legal action against the state for their actions, eventually winning $28.5 million as a result. At the same time, she launched a motion against Island Express Helicopters as she wanted to find out exactly what caused the death of her husband and daughter. After a thorough investigation, it was declared that the crash was caused by the pilot, Ara Zobayan, who had lost control of the helicopter that never should have been allowed to fly in such treacherous conditions. The company eventually accepted responsibility for the crash, stating that the pilot should never have left the airport and, once the severity of the fog was realised, he should have returned his passengers to safety. Even with the money that Vanessa received, nothing would ever bring back what she wished for the most; her lost husband and child.