Honestly, thank you for this, this man’s family shouldn’t have to deal with everyone blaming him before we know what happened. The pilot is dead as well, let’s not be insensitive.
j000ker007 Next time you board a plane, or get into a car, say a prayer because everything you/we do in life is a risk. I don’t see people vilifying the car industry, when countless people are killed in car accidents an obscene amount of times on a daily basis.
Sure looks like minimum cloud clearances were ignored. This is commonly done but some have to answer for it. Had the pilot lived would he be charged for murder?
totally agree with you Jim Hudek. Its like driving a car through the fog. you dont speed up. you slow down so in case you hit something you give yourself a chance to survice. or turn around slowly and make a freaking emergency landing. its a helicopter. you dont need a runway to land it. he died but because of his poor judgement he took 8 other lives with him.
All due respect, even if you are an expert, you should not pass judgement on a tragedy like this with the limited information we have. I'm sure there are many variables that can lead to such an accident and without clear and irrefutable evidence the pilot's name should not be tarnished.
@IM PEACH Its called cancelling the flight!! . The airlines do it all the time. My dad flew for American Airlines 36 years. it would have been no big deal. Maybe this outfit just wanted Kobes's money for the charter..! I thought about that too.
@IM PEACH Quit being so dramatic. Changed history forever? Seriously? People died in an accident, happens all the time every day. You know what "changed history forever"? The Atomic bomb. The death of a retired athlete pales in comparison.
@IM PEACH no it did not KOBE and his daughter Gianna were mortal human beings...no better than the other 7 passengers on that helicopter....DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IM TELLING YOU? THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST 🙏 CHANGED HISTORY....NOT THIS YOU PEOPLE NEED TO STOP ACTING LIKE KOBES DEATH IS THE END OF THE WORLD THATS SO DAMN STUPID IT BORDERS ON INSANITY 😊😊
1. The biggest aviation crash in history had fog involved 2. The pilot responsible was the company Safety Officer. Good pilots make mistakes Ara used bad judgement that day.
I'm grateful that this man has publicly defended Pilot Ara. I know everybody has a lot of courage to judge anonymously, but please remember this man lost his life too. Accidents happen, and this was a tragic one. However, every single life on that plane holds the same value in God's eyes. This poor man's family should not have to listen to or read insinuations that he was an incompetent or egotistical pilot who carelessly caused the death of himself and 8 others, including 3 children. It's not right and it's not fair.
I agree. unfortunately, the younger generations has elevated celebrities to GOD LIKE status. the world can be VERY CRUEL to anyone who harms a celebrity. had Kobe been the one flying that helicopter and he killed all his friends, there would be very little judging of him.
@@wasatchm WOW! THANK YOU FOR THE ACTUAL TRUTH...ITS NICE TO SEE SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDS REALITY...NOT BEING A SMART ASS....IM BEING REAL....THANK YOU👍👍👍
Every flight is the Pilot's responsibility but Ara Zobayan did not want to die that day. Kobe did not want to die that day. No one in the world wanted that helicopter to crash that day. My heart goes out to their families. 😢
Tay Made And the world isn’t perfect, neither are you or I. Accidents happen to the best of the best. Unfortunately life isn’t fair. Ultimately children died which really rips at my heart. It’s a tragedy, but not everything in this life is “avoidable”.
Pure BS. You do what is right according to the weather and your abilities to use your certifications. It is that simple. Pilots are in command and never sway to the requests of the clients. NEVER or they are dead pilots and they get to take people with them. This dude should have told Kobe to drive...... I would have, gladly . He was IFR rated, but the company was against them using it as it raised their liability , evidently. They just wanted the pilots to fly in perfect VFR weather. It was not that sort of day, as the cops stopped flying their choppers.....Take their clues.......and DRIVE your Bentleys , Lamborghinis, Ferraris or what ever Kobe had in his driveway. It could have been a fun driving experience, letting these people drive luxurious cars, they never get to see or touch. That was not to be. They piled up in the chopper and they died. The end.
OTIS SPENCER Again are you a pilot? You don’t know shit about helicopters but come on here and make the egregious claim the pilot killed these passengers... the NTSB hasn’t ruled anything out. Study other S76 helicopter crashes. It’s a very reliable perform, but not without issues. But please tell us all about how qualified you are at your keyboard to explain this accident....🙄. And it is an “accident” by definition. I’ve been on many. If it turns out to be pilot error, it happens to the most elite highly trained. But your brain can’t even begin to understand how a helicopter flys and all the factors that influence that( mainly low altitude) which gives very little room for correction in an emergency. People die. Accept it. We will never eliminate human error or mechanical failure. But I’m sure if they find the rotor system failed or he suffered another control failure you and all the other RUclips layman “resident experts” will be all pissed off at the murderous helicopter company. Frickin cracks me up. Go fly a helicopter, then you can open your ignorant mouth.
Kobe was flying in helicopters before this guy even had a license to fly so you would think that he would also know that it wasn't safe.. you gotta put some this blame on kobe bc he is billionaire and plane don't move if billionaire say it don't move
Im sure Kobe or nobody else pushed him into the flight ... but maybe he was getting paid good for the charter & he just didnt have the balls to say " Hey guys sorry but your daughter is going to mis this game because the whether doest give a shit about basket ball "
Why isn't it made public who actually cleared him to fly that day and why aren't they seeking answers as to why he was cleared or did he clear himself? No disrespect to Ara may he rest in peace. I was just wondering is all.
Yeah I agree but don't you think at some point the tower should have said once the weather started charged that he should land and wait for the fog to clear? I guess it's just hard for me to understand
I kind of wonder myself why the air traffic controllers allowed him to fly (but.... they aren't right there and may not have know how bad the fog was right there) Also, it seems like they should have known that company wasn't allowed to do that when he requested clearance and denied it. Soooo many questions right now!
I think Kobe planned this trip days before Sunday, Sunday came and bad weather, no time to drive to his academy. The pressure was on to get there. The helicopter took off and shouldn’t have. The pilot should have the last and final word if it’s safe to fly. It cost him his and 8 others their lives.
I understand the internet is a place for opinions, but there’s surely a lot of ‘flight experts’ in this thread. I know half of these ppl can’t drive a car
@@Johnsor21 Fog is more dense in some areas than others. There are a lot of theories about what happened but it seems something happened that required a maneuver and either the engine stalled, something happened to the pilot or the pilot just plain couldn't see and got confused. Most likely won't have the evidence to truly know what happened and the investigators can only come to a conclusion based on the evidence they have. Who would be going at speeds of over 100 mph without being able to see?
He should have said: "I am sorry Kobe, but the conditions are too dangerous to risk your life, your daughter's life, and that of the other passengers plus my life. The firm may fire me for this, but I have to do what is best for us all" He didn't and now they're all dead. Bad decision on his part. Speak up if things aren't right.
I don’t get why people are trying to crucify the pilot. Could he have made an error in judgment that he couldn’t correct? Maybe. But I was never under the impression that pilots won’t ever make a mistake. Every day on the road drivers make fatal mistakes. When I fly I have to trust that the pilot is highly skilled and will make good judgment calls but I’m fully aware that an error can happen that can cause the plane to crash. There is no comfort to be gained by blaming the pilot.
Well with that logic, then he absolutely should not have flown in those conditions. Why take such risks when it's not necessary? It's not like they were in a warzone.
it was an error that could have been totally avoided thats why people are blaming him. its a helicopter. you can make an emergency landing on top of a barn. sure there will be injuries but the massacre could have been avoided.
Thank you for this, and you're exactly right. I think when people grieve it is very normal to place blame to gain closure when there is no blame to place. I also haven't seen anybody considering a medical emergency with the pilot as a possible cause? I'm not a pilot so I have no clue if that is even possible, but I can imagine it isn't impossible to consider heart attack/stroke/seizure?
@@lfesuzuki I can say, because I've lived here 36 years, that the fog and especially very low dense fog rolls in and and out in the matter of seconds. Again, where they took off from and where the helicopter went down can have completely different conditions. Even if they don't at the time of take off it is highly feasible that fog could have rolled in very quickly. At my house I have had on many many occasions had dense fog roll in at the exact same time the other half of my home is clear blue skies.
YES it was! He never filed an IFR flight plan. (instrument flight rules) He should have been on instruments! You dont see to many airliner pilots doing this! (crashing into Mts. flying by visual flight rules... (VFR) The airlines always fly on instruments and they always file IFR flight plans! Its mandatory! It was the pilots fault!!. He killed everybody on board that aircraft! Its just to bad he killed all his passengers ! RIP KOBE and everybody else.
Ara made a bad call. He shouldn't have flown at the conditions. He was aware of IFR - his decision was fatal. It is a tragedy, but he is to blame for this accident.
After scouring RUclips vids, I’m a flight expert of 22 minutes and 25 seconds. I can unequivocally declare the pilot made an error. He was unskilled and inexperienced to navigate the fog screaming “Marco!”
But tbf, it's easy to say this when you don't have to deal with 64 cubic miles of unprecedentedly heavy fog that forms all around you in just a second or two about halfway through your flight! You can't put yourself in his shoes!
The pilot could have put the helicopter down on the highway but he wanted to save embarrassment, save his job, save his career, and save his reputation. Instead he acted in what he thought were his own interests and not the interests of his passengers. His decision not to declare an emergency and land on the highway or suitable terrain was selfish and self-centered. All this discussion is CYA crap, obfuscation, and apologetics for the aviator community. The pilot was guilty of involuntary manslaughter as a minimum.
FlyHighii Pa In an emergency you can do anything you need to do to the extent of the emergency. BUT it was a pilot endured situation, so the FAA would have hung him out to dry. Instead he continued into conditions way over his head.
Say there Original 6 Hockey This is not true about the FAA being such hard-assed bastards. Even airline pilots have run out of fuel and didn’t get fired or their ticket lifted.
Flying when LAPD didn't fly? Let's say Kobe asked him to fly. As an expert, he shouldn't have flown. Nothing makes sense. Kobe's other pilot said he never forced him to fly in bad conditions.
You don't know anything, just keep your comments to yourself. I knew the pilot and he was one of the best pilots I've ever known. Don't be insensitive.
I hate that Lorenzo is defending Ara, he knows conditions weren’t right to fly that day but Ara made the choice to fly and cost everybody their lives. It was a horrible tragedy but totally preventable had Ara simply said no, stop defending your friend’s poor choice Lorenzo!
“I don’t know exactly what happened that caused the incident.” Really? Here’s the cause it’s blatant - loss of situational awareness VFR into IFR conditions and failure to declare emergency and go on instruments
Have you considered the possibility that the pilot could have had a medical emergency? Gee, I’m happy YOU have all the answers and thought about all the scenarios because I haven’t.
@@sherylchapman4168 LOLz. His heart attack timed itself to fog and happened right at the hills...wake up kids: ruclips.net/video/TMhHjh8xhrE/видео.html *and* ruclips.net/video/R1_o-TjGW2I/видео.html
He obviously lacked judgment, period. He would have seen the weather building leaving Van Nuys and could have landed and arranged other transportation. Instead “get-there-itis” and the other factors ultimately doomed them all.
@Lift1Onewell now we know there was no engine failure or power loss so now what mr. Pro pilot. Am I opinion I think I screwed up and he knew that he screwed up so he went on to a suicidal mission he felt there was no way to correct it or get out of it you screwed up you the way I blame the pilot. I am a truck driver and I have driven in heavy fog and if I crash into someone and kill them would you think they're going to blame. If you ask a highly skilled pilot if this accident could have been avoided they will all answer yes.
There is so many people with so many opinions about who should have done what and who shouldn’t, why don’t you all just become pilots and let’s see how that’s gonna play out !! Stop looking for reasons to put a blame on anyone. This is why it’s called an “ACCIDENT” RIP everyone on that flight 🙏🏻
Have you ever todd of " Accidentology". It is a science that analyse the reasons of accidents to avoid them on the future...and many Times leads to profound changes in formation and réglementation.. .This is called a science! Because 90% of accident are caused by human nature or errors. And not by hazards or God or Allah! But maybe you're an " Inch Allah" man or woman! Intelligent, Smart people or smart organisations triés always to analyse and improvise themselves
I was living in Santa Barbara that morning, which is about 70 miles north of Calabasas, where they crashed. I noted when I looked out my window at our local mountains, what nasty, milky-thick, strangely falling scud we had that morning. The ceiling was not distinct, the clouds were super thick and falling; clinging down mountains, hanging in valleys.. a very, very nasty day to fly. As I followed his route, i noticed one thing: his airspeed.. as he sped across the valley, and then hit the 101, he most likely ran into the same crap that I was seeing in Santa Barbara, especially since right there where he was, the terrain starts to climb. He probably inadvertently punched in (due to no other option due to high air speed), and made the drastic mistake of not being mentally prepared for it, and did everything wrong. Had he just maintained heading up the 101, and pulled pitch, nose level, and climbed like a bat outta hell with his eyes on the instruments, he would have been on top in a matter of a minute or so. Former Army Chinook pilot and commercial airplane pilot here. It's sad, but he was going WAY too fast to give himself options when he ran into a surprise.
My speculation is that the pilot entered into a thick fog condition and because he was flying so low, lost contact with air traffic controller. In that moment, he was flying blindly and he started to climb to get above the layer of fog/clouds then that’s when he lost spatial awareness and lost control of the helicopter. Without a clue on which direction he was going at that point. And then the helicopter went into the side of the hill.
Well it's tragic for all that lost there lives & the NTSB has said pilot error when he lost visibility he became spatially disoriented & when climbing he was really descending & slammed into a mountain killing everyone horrifically! I wish he would have followed LA pilots & been grounded that day. 😥
Why he went ahead into IMC, on a Special VFR clearance is beyond me. No one flies into a mountain at high speed. He was in the clouds, saw him on steep terrain panicked and made a escape maneuver into steeper terrain.. The videos they have of him showing him real low and real slow in the area. He should have set the a/c down and Ubered
No, air tragedies are NEVER freak accidents. There were undoubtedly a chain of events leading to this fateful crash.. history will easily prove this to you upon analysis of literally any other crash.....unless of course the plane was shot down.
Glad to hear family and friends of the pilot speaking out. I really hope this doesn't turn into a "blame the pilot/throw the pilot under the bus" situation like it did when Aaliyah died in 2001. I'm a die hard Aaliyah fan and I wasn't cool with that then and I don't wanna see it happen now. Whenever an accident happens and people die, human nature wants to look for someone to blame. These pilots lost their lives too. People need to remember that.
Well planes WANT to fly and they just don’t fall out of the sky so there is in fact a reason for the crash. It wasn’t some arbitrary event that we all should just accept and ignore. It seemed most probably like most crashes, a chain of events that led to the tragedy. Many red flags ignored along the way.
badgyrl310 Aaliyahs people overloaded an airplane against advisement, and had “get home itis ”. Yes the pilot didn’t have a current cert and there were drugs, but he crashed because of overloading. Confirmed by investigators. Her handlers were just as complicit as the pilot in that accident. I think this one with Kobe will likely come down to spacial disorientation. Maybe a terrain avoidance system could have helped, but that varies greatly depending on the scenario. It’s not a fail safe.
To Lorenzo and everybody on here who wants to talk about blame. Yes the man is dead along with 8 other lives. What we need from this is change. First he had no business, pressure or no pressure, flying into areas of zero visibility, it does not matter if your instrument certified or not. Second I hope this doesn’t become just another sounding board for getting much needed safety equipment, like TWAS, implemented in all passenger service helicopters. And last, like Chesley Sullenberger has said multiple times in interviews, it is a pilots responsibility to know his surroundings. Why be instrument rated with 8200 hours of flight experience and not take a few minutes to study the terrain your going to be flying into so that you have the knowledge of knowing your elevation’s and the minimum altitude you’ll need to fly in a particular area just in case you are put in a holding pattern. This pilot is dead yes, and my condolences go out to his family as well as all the families that have been affected by this tragedy, but we can’t just turn our heads the other way, because of feelings, friendships, or compassion, and not analyze the mistakes he made so that we can apply the necessary corrective actions to make sure we don’t suffer more loss of innocent people.
All these people saying give the pilot a break sound ridiculous. When you have a job that tasks you with human life there is NO ROOM FOR ERRORS, I REPEAT NO ROOM FOR ERROR!!!! I hope you guys have the same attitude towards doctors and nurses when they make mistakes. If you can’t handle a job with high responsibility like that go flip burgers at fucking McDonalds and stop making excuses for people that lack the skills for these jobs
Listen to the audio, he doesn't sound fully confident in his talks with air traffic control, its sad, he took a risk and things didn't work out, very little margin for error and high risk definitely not worth it. He was trying to fly below the clouds, tracking hwy with limited visibility and heavy fog on the ground as per witness statements that said heli sounded low or close to ground, so he's basically trapped above and beneath with higher elevation around him and trying to use road as a guide in an uncontrolled weather environment that's changing. Experts have said its rare both engines would go, and everyone says flying in fog / cloud you have very little time to react. I won't pass judgment but look at facts he at somepoint choose to keep flying and the passengers had no control over him making that ultimate decision.
@@Gus1966-c9o When he gets on with VANY tower his voice doesn't sound as confident, like either he's worried about something, or bothered, a little nervous, its subtle but its there. I'm not saying that's the reason for the crash, but his nerves were high, he might have been trying to play it cool. I think too everyone said he was one of the best at what he did so he was highly skillful so maybe he thought he could figure out a way, and maybe he'd done hundreds of flights where he took some risk and got through it because he was that good, I don't think it was a freak accident just that he gambled and ended up losing and it cost everyone.
He should’ve taken 118 like ATC asked him if he wanted to. The pilot was in way over his head and should’ve made the decision to bring the helicopter down instead of illegally climbing above the fog. He received permission for special VFR not to fly up in to the fog
I'm not gonna put all the blame on this pilot bc kobe should've knew better as well.. the both of them took that trip countless times and im pretty sure kobe knew they were taking a chance by flying in that typo weather..
Again people, it was clear skies when they left Newport Beach. I likely Kobe did not google what the weather in Los Angeles was that day because they were not heading to Los Angeles. Los Angeles had fog.
A - Kobe convinced Ara to fly B - Ara thought the conditions were fine C - Ara was naive to the conditions D - Helicopter failed regardless of conditions Has to be one of these 4 right?
At the end of the flight, Zobayan flew directly south over the 101 then turned 90 degrees left, heading east (e.g. the opposite direction to Camarillo), Separate from him rising to 2300 feet at the end and then banking left, back towards Camarillo, into the hillside, the big question for me is why did he not head more diagonally west after clearing Van Nuys Airport air space or at turn right to go west over the 101.
@Striker Thunderlick Horrible decision because it was non visibility fog conditions but he was flying low to follow the 101 freeway when he knew it was hilly terrain. Foolish!
@Striker Thunderlick Always safety first. That earns respect from anyone that has a real brain. It might have been he wasn't sure what was up from down. Sounds right, the weather got a worse when in holding pattern. Why didn't he turn back to his instruments?
@Striker Thunderlick In that scenario I would land rather than hold for 15 minutes especially if not relying on instruments as he apparently made fatal decision. Rather than clearing up, the fog likely got worse. This was turning point, as you mentioned.
I flew with Ara many times.. he told me a story Well several stories about Kobe.. another thing I thought the airport was fogged in so my question is why were they making the helicopter fly for 15 minutes around the airport so flights could come in They said flights were grounded.. that is a mystery question.. also short story Kobe wanted Ara to land in his backyard in Newport Beach..Ara said no way.. Kobe assured him he had paper to document that he was able to have a helicopter land in his backyard..Ara believed him..when Ara landed he asked to see the paperwork.. Kobe went in the house and never came out.. oops Kobe lied to him.Ara told me this story.. swear upon it.. so you got to understand Kobe was manipulating and people say that speculation no I'm going to say that's fact.. who knows if Kobe maybe told him to continue.. All these factors at investigators who aren't really that good just to let you know most investigators I meet are mediocre.. anyway.. catch me if you can.. but just remember we'll never know what really happened.. no matter how good of a pilot you are no matter how much you try to investigate there's no way that you could make a decision on this one.. but I do understand they will always play the pilot no matter what That's the way life is and that's how humans are..
If you are a Computer Programmer, Mastech Auto Technician, Gaffer on a movie set or any job you can make mistakes and it doesn't cost anyone their lives. Being a pilot of any kind doesn't give you that flexibility. There was no reason to make this flight especially if you didn't have complete and accurate information on your destination. One bad decision cost 8 people their life and devastated numerous families unnecessarily.
This pilot was an LA pilot, not a highly qualified military pilot, or a civil rescue Pilot. Not qualified to flight in these horrid conditions, because having the certifications ( instrument qualified) is not having the habilities: SKILLS ARE PERISHABLE if you don t use it in a very regular or daily basis. Moreover, since the begininng he made hazardous décisions ( Police choppes were on ground), during the flight because of ego and hubris he did not décide to land to protecteur his passengers, it leads to a 15 minutes wandaring in flight.. and finally , je touched the bottom of his skills, and cannot handle properly a situation were he put himself, because a lack of practice of IFR ( moreover the comptant did not get that qualification) ..... It' s almost a studycase of a what pilot should not do. One of the most avoiadable chopper accident of all Times and it will lead too many lawsuits and changing in Chopper flight réglementation....., i m saying that as a lawyer
When accidents happen ...blame is not necessary and when loss of life happens as in this case so many so young so loved and well known...the end result is that U can't change the outcome all U can do is grieve and try to make sure that U live your life as best U can with as much Safety and Health and Love and positives that I am hoping for everyone today.
I don't understand why there would not have been a second pilot on the flight in weather like that. the helicopter company probably should of had a second pilot on the flight because of the poor weather. of course, there not gonna want to pay for a second pilot though. and the client (KOBE) probably isn't gonna want to pay for an extra pilot.
If kobe had heard of a bad weather he would not have gone,because he had his daughter with him.he has flown in helicopters all the time and must know a bit about them he seems like a smart man to me. Some one know some more details and that's their families. It was have been a schedule he had and it would have been the pilot to alert there is bad weather.
Original 6 Hockey my son is a Air Force pilot for F16 and they go through rigorous physical and mental training unlike the regular pilots .... poor judgment but his judgment was probably altered because of the fog. My son says it happens
Shhh Aua Awesome that your son flies F-16. I’m 58 and went civilian route. 28,000+ hours accident/incident free flying. Flown with a lot of bad pilots with many being military. You’d be shocked. Either way it’s very sad that passengers entrusted that pilot with their lives. Very sad. Happens far to often. I’d rather see media cover fallen law enforcement/military. Congratulations to your son.
Rodney Brown Well glad to see this is the new approach to professionals who have human lives in their hands everyday. Wonder if you’ll think the same if a doctor or nurse or etc. makes a mistake with your life
@@taymarwilliams263 Everyone makes mistakes. The US is so fast pace and demanding that everyone wants things done right now!!!! It was a tragedy and maybe shouldn't of happened but it's a chance we take in life.
@@mrsj7763 This is what I read today. "Investigators said the twin-engine Sikorsky S-76B was traveling at more than 180 mph (290 kph) and 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) per minute when it crashed"
I don't care how great of a pilot Ara Zobayan was. He made an unethical choice to fly! He should have said NO! The weather is not good! His work ethic? He killed 8 innocent people who didn't deserve to die that way!! I'm still mad as hell at him! I'm not a pilot but I've been in dense fog trying to drive and that was scary as hell. I eventually saw where I could pull over to curb got out car to call for help. This is big for me! 8 innocent people lost their lives behind a careless negligent pilot who didn't have the guts to say hey we can't fly in this weather! I mean didn't he check the flying that day for the path he was taking? Was there another way to go! I'm big mad with this. Ion know if I ever will get over this
I'm no flying expert, only had a few flying lessons. But what I know is the first rule in aviation - Safety First. What I find strange is that the pilot flew under these extreme conditions, while LAPD helicopters were not flying, from what I've heard. I have taken a few rides in helicopters, of which one was in NYC, over Manhattan. The scheduled day was too cloudy with a low clouddeck (no fog), result - we're not flying today...sorry....I had to wait till 2 days later to take that ride over Manhattan. All I want to say is - I don't understand why this happened and I think it's very sad, really. No need for this to happen. All those lives - including basketball legend Kobe Bryant and daughter - wasted, and for what?! So sad, man. :( I have been to LA too and LA is known for many fogs in the morning. We don't really know what happened in the cockpit/helicopter, but this crash was so weird...Most people would probably think - go land at the first best spot to be safe and skip that basketball match, or what I was thinking of - go high above the clouds with the permission of ATC ofcourse, and head to the beach and go land at the beach for my part. A lot of space at the very wide beaches in LA. But again, I'm no expert...but this crash is so sad...OMG. May their souls rest in peace.
Local conditions can change rapidly. He ended up in the clouds, got disoriented and flew into terrain. That's going to probably be the finding by the NTSB. While he was an instrument instructor the firm he was flying for only does VFR flights. Instrument flying is a perishable skill. The ratings mean nothing if you aren't training and staying current. It's very sad for all involved, he was probably a good pilot but even good pilots can make poor decisions and can't control everything. What if he hadn't been delayed 12 minutes waiting for clearance to transition controlled airspace? Might that delay have allowed conditions at the landing site to worsen? The bottom line is the PIC is responsible for the safe operation of the flight. Baring some mechanical failure the responsibility is going to fall on the pilot's shoulders.
@Tay Made Fog can vary in intensity with ceilings and visibility varying over time. This is especially true in areas where elevation change. Are you a pilot? Have you every taken a course in aviation weather? I'm a pilot with an instrument rating. Save the fool comment for someone that gives 2 cents about what you think regarding a subject you probably know very little about.
Jeff Perteet Most people don’t appear in picture perfect health. And pilots are required to get regular medical exams, which the pilot was up to date on.
Gotta love people trying to blame everyone except Kobe Bryant, the guy who hired the pilot, and put 4 adults and 3 children on N72EX so he could get to a children’s basketball game on time. There are two and only two people at blame here: Kobe Bryant and Ara Zobayan.
Ignorant post. You obviously know nothing about flying. If the pilot cancels the flight; the flight is cancelled. Kobe has nothing to do with this. He respected Ara greatly and would never fly if told it was unsafe. The flight conditions were not unsafe at take off, but worsened and that's when the pilot made errors, which cost him and the others their death. This was pilot error most likely, but not when they took off
It was preventable but it was just poor judgement, a mistake. Let this man RIP, his family is suffering enough I’m sure. Kobe wouldn’t want u guys saying these things about his friend. God Bless Ara Zobayan and all others lost ❤️
I believe what happened to highly-skilled Ara Zobayan is a fantastic lesson to all of us. I believe it likely he was very-heavily tasked and simply got caught too quickly into yet another of the fast-coming gotchas of settling with power and its consequences too low. We all suffer from tunnel vision focus; its a human condition thing the many lives lost all through history keep reminding us about...but that we at just those times don't pay enough attention to.
Lorenzo, thank you for your thoughts. So sorry for the loss of your friend and colleague. The Pressure referred to in this incident I never imagined to be Company Pressure or even Passenger Pressure, but rather Personal Pressure - "I will not let this person down", "I can do this " , "I know this route by heart with my eyes closed. " THAT kinda Pressure was a motivation I believe. It's human nature in the Professional environment. MHOO No matter the cause a sad result for many. RIP dear souls. 💔
Sure he was a nice guy, so what. We’re talking professional responsibility. When you receive special training and acquire a skill, your no longer an average Joe. The pilots primary concern is the safety of all souls aboard. No exceptions! Not a celebrity trying to go to a game. He should have never put those people in harms way. When he’s on the radio attempting to remedy the situation, he’s already realized his mistake. But he still proceeded. There was no mention of mechanical issues. Just a fu*king mountain in front of him. Those poor people who put their trust in the pilot were already in danger. Do you think they wanted to take any risks? I’ve been a passenger flying and driving in fog. We all know the fear that any passenger who looks out the window and can’t see has. There was no reason for that to happen. It was so easy to avoid. RIP
j000ker007 your talking like the pilot somehow had no risks. When you fly a helicopter, not only the passenger but your own life is at risk. What kind of pilot would continued to fly knowing he’s going to die.
Don’t speak on something you know Nothing about. His friends and family are grieving too. Try to be a decent human being, you might like yourself more.
Cody Cha , I hate to speak from experience but it’s true that accidents happen when you least expect it. If you think you will see it coming your mistaken. As he was. The point being, he had no right to put the passengers in harms way. Even if he thought he could handle it, He knew there was a risk. We all know shit happens. So he had a bad day.
Kendrick ross , in the construction industry we don’t leave it at “ it was just a tragedy “. That’s a sign of laziness and complacency. We preach safety every day so that tragedy’s don’t happen. They are usually 100% preventable. I’m not sure what or if that company has a safety procedure in place. The lawyers will find out. There would have been a safety procedure in place to follow for that scenario to avoid tragedy’s. You see how that’s works. Did you read the average joe remark. Just keep following the rest of the herd buddy, I don’t expect you to know better.
Ex Essex plus this guy had gotten in trouble before for doing shit he had no business doing! When ur tasked with other people’s lives in ur hands ( dr, nurse, etc) there is no room for error. Easy for others to say “ oh it was just a little accident” so I guess this is the new approach we should take for professionals that hold lives in their hands daily
Taymar Williams Every pilot will get a small FAA infraction at some point in their career. You just have about zero clue to this as you probably pilot a Chevy down the interstate and know nothing about helicopters. Love RUclips know it alls... pathetic
I read where only certain models of helicopters are equipped with these units .Terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) is generally an on-board system aimed at preventing unintentional impacts with the ground, termed "controlled flight into terrain" accidents, or CFIT. The specific systems currently in use are the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) and the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) introduced the generic term TAWS to encompass all terrain-avoidance systems that meet the relevant FAA standards, which include GPWS, EGPWS and any future system that might replace them.
Pilot killed them...radio went silent for 40 seconds after his last response to the air control he was still flying for 40 seconds before he nosedived...no answer back to air control when they asked him questions completely silent for 40 seconds before nosediving.....smh
Lets place the blame on Kobe who should've cancelled this flight due to poor visibility. Obviously his daughter's game was more important to him. You don't have to be a pilot to see danger ahead!
when you get on a plane do you know how the weather is going to be or if its safe to fly?? I think most people leave it up to the pilot and assume the expert knows what he is doing.
It was an act of God. I have no doubt of this. As a teenager a newly wed friend his wife and new born where traveling to visit her parents. The flight they booked had been cancelled but the wife insisted that they instead depart on the next flight. Inspite, of his desire to leave earlier the following day. They had a similar fate as Kobe and Gigi. The pilots visibility was impaired by fog as they traveled a mist of mountains. The pilot crashed. They were killed I will always remember the most important thing I heard during this painful time. His wife insistence on leaving that day on a later flight. As in Kobe's case his secretary phoned the night prior that he wanted to leave earlier then the scheduled time to view a game prior to his daughter's game.
Less than 1% of IFR rated pilots are comfortable flying in zero visibility, and then add terrain change.. highly stressful situation and everyone makes mistakes when stressed..EVERYONE. Don’t blame the pilot 👨✈️
Should have just landed in Van Nuys and took a car from there It was Sunday no traffic ...Safety is first the pilot should have known if it was doable if not he should have just notified the passengers that it was too risky and that he needed to land.
Pilot error at its finest. This pilot was obviously not proficient enough to fly into a cloud. His correct decision to do a climbing 180 degree turn to escape the bad weather was hampered by a startle effect which was compounded by an element of vertigo. His brain was not ready to fly blind. Majority of Chopper pilots are visual aviators. Having an instrument rating means nothing if you haven’t flown in IMC conditions for a decade. His Decision making was extremely amateur. This chopper company has to be grounded and all of their pilots have to be checked and evaluated by the FAA. NTSB final report is going to blame the pilot fully.
Interviewer didnt ask the right questions to exonerate the pilot. Cheap. He should have asked Lorenzo: do u think the pilot did the right thing to shoot up to 2300' in clouds when he was in special VFR. Isnt that a violation that led to the crash? Unfortunately the NTSB report will be this: Pilot error caused by severe inclement weather
Shawn Reddick Pilot error due to poor decision making caused by pilot exceeding his ability and entering IFR while trying to maintain VFR. Guy violated so many FAR’s it will be a list of errors.
@@original6hockey402 U are right. It is possible the pilot would have gotten it right if he had some extra time since the damage was done in 15 seconds. He could have used IFR even if his company didn't allow, declare emergency and land. He had already got them close enough to destination. He could have continued to scud run alongside 101 although that is dangerous by itself. He need not have asked for flight-following which made him go up in response to the controllers feedback. Or simply call it a day at Van Nuys
They descended I think they said roughly 2,000 ft in a 60 second span, I believe at the very least for approx 30 seconds or more (no more than 60 obviously) they knew something was terribly wrong. From going from one relatively normal flight path, all the sudden shooting up and then shooting back down, they had to have felt something was very wrong coupled with the very milky, flying conditions. Poor dude inadvertently went into IMC and got spatial disorientation.
India Ame'ye He didn’t mean to go into IMC, it was a tragic mistake and once you get into IMC not being able to see any visual cues to help your brain understand where you are, you lose track of what way is up/down, left/right and panic.
@Erick Amezcua dude, it was solved minutes after it happened. Sure, officially we all have to wait 12 to 18 months, just to hear, pilot flew in to IMC and the CFIT. No mechanical issues. Pilot error plain and simple. You do not fly into low weather visibility at 150 Kts. That's insane.
For a normal customer the pilot definitely would not have flew. But this is Kobe Bryant he can't be late. He was under pressure so he took the risk but it was avoidable. RIP Kobe we will miss you!!
What risk?! Kobe had done this helicopter ride every morning since January 2nd, and unlike anyone who grounded their aircraft that morning, Kobe didn’t jump to any conclusions just because the sky happened to be gray. But TBF, Ara could have stopped the chopper and waited for the unprecedentedly heavy fog (all 64 cubic miles of it) to disappear or could have dealt with it differently. But he didn’t even have time to make a split-second decision. He was former Israeli military and had flown helicopters for more than 30 years! It only seems avoidable in retrospect!
@@samreilly1484 Dude you just answered your own question. The risk I am talking about is flying through dense, thick fog. It was not just a casual grey sky that day.
@@Fong21051 it was just a casual grey sky that day until after the helicopter took off. They didn’t know they’d have to fly through “dense, thick fog” until it was too late. Anyone who grounded their aircraft that morning just happened to make a very lucky call due to the color of the sky. You can’t expect the sky to be blue every day.
Listen everyone can go back and forth it's not going to bring back anyone everyone died on that helicopter may their souls rest in peace. Not like the helicopter flew into a mountain dropped out of the sky obviously something went wrong
For all the "blamers" out there, just stop. This was an ACCIDENT. Every time you get in your car/uber you take the SAME RISK. How can you all believe that this pilot intentionally risked his own and 8 other lives? Why? For a game? The weather changed, fog got too thick, he lost sight of the horizon and spatial disorientation took over. It's a common issue for pilots and it's sad. Stop blaming and do some damn research so you understand. Make an educated comment instead if pointing the finger.
It' s really not fair to speak with fellow pilots who were his friends about this, because lets be honest... Thats a loaded question to ask and not a burden anyone worth their salt is going to speculate about if they were good friends with the deceased pilot. Being good friends, means there is still a network of people within that friendship that remain like his family and anyone else this gentleman bonded with. I'm certain Lorenzo has a very strong opinion about what happen and he is going to keep that to himself as most reasonable people would.
Its not just his friends that have spoken out, I have seen several people speak out that met Ara only once or twice and all of them have said his reputation as a amazing pilot preceded him. He was known around the california aviation scene as 1 of the best pilots around. I mean listen to wat kawhi leonard said about him. Ara use to fly him around all the time. He said alot of times he would drop Kawhi off and go pick Kobe up right after. He stated Ara was the pilot u wanted flying u around. U dont just become a Head Pilot for a big company that have mostly rich and famous clientele very easy. If u think people like kobe would fly around wit his family wit anything other then the best ur highly mistaken. Shit happens even the best can mess up all it takes is 1 tiny mistake to end ur life. Ara was flying for 20 years hes prolly flown 12 thousand times b4 this accident. Just shows it doesn't matter how good u r or how long u been doing it any flight can be ur last
@@tylertwinem7213 Oh I don't doubt any of that for one second. My comment was aimed more at the media. When anything tragic happens, the media, and to some degree society, look for " the villain." No one wants to believe this was just a freak accident that tragically took the lives of all of these people. And while I understand everyone's desire to look for answers as to how or why this happened, I think the media goes to great lengths to look for a way to spin it for headlines. And that misrepresentation does a disservice towards that process to uncover the facts. The average person, not personally impacted by this, are going to draw conclusions based on allot of that misinformation and move on with their lives. And that happens within a couple of days. Only those who knew and loved these souls will continue to grieve and live with the void that tragedy has left in their lives.
Honestly, thank you for this, this man’s family shouldn’t have to deal with everyone blaming him before we know what happened. The pilot is dead as well, let’s not be insensitive.
Next time you book a copter flight, tell them you want the foggy route and bring your popcorn.
j000ker007 what
Most people are insensitive. People act like he intentionally crashed and killed everyone including himself. Smh.
@@lcjones4682 Yep, I have even read people speculating that this is a terrorist attack.
j000ker007 Next time you board a plane, or get into a car, say a prayer because everything you/we do in life is a risk. I don’t see people vilifying the car industry, when countless people are killed in car accidents an obscene amount of times on a daily basis.
35 + years of flying and 25,000 hrs makes me qualified to say he exercised poor judgment in continuing this flight. RIP.
Jim Hudek 100%
Sure looks like minimum cloud clearances were ignored. This is commonly done but some have to answer for it. Had the pilot lived would he be charged for murder?
totally agree with you Jim Hudek. Its like driving a car through the fog. you dont speed up. you slow down so in case you hit something you give yourself a chance to survice. or turn around slowly and make a freaking emergency landing. its a helicopter. you dont need a runway to land it. he died but because of his poor judgement he took 8 other lives with him.
Im with you on that
All due respect, even if you are an expert, you should not pass judgement on a tragedy like this with the limited information we have. I'm sure there are many variables that can lead to such an accident and without clear and irrefutable evidence the pilot's name should not be tarnished.
I'm a commercial pilot instrument rated for over 40 years. I'm just stating the obvious. The whole thing is very tragic but it was avoidable.
Yes it was
totally agree with you.
@IM PEACH Its called cancelling the flight!! . The airlines do it all the time. My dad flew for American Airlines 36 years. it would have been no big deal. Maybe this outfit just wanted Kobes's money for the charter..! I thought about that too.
@IM PEACH Quit being so dramatic. Changed history forever? Seriously? People died in an accident, happens all the time every day. You know what "changed history forever"? The Atomic bomb. The death of a retired athlete pales in comparison.
@IM PEACH no it did not KOBE and his daughter Gianna were mortal human beings...no better than the other 7 passengers on that helicopter....DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IM TELLING YOU?
THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST 🙏
CHANGED HISTORY....NOT THIS
YOU PEOPLE NEED TO STOP ACTING LIKE KOBES DEATH IS THE END OF THE WORLD
THATS SO DAMN STUPID IT BORDERS ON INSANITY 😊😊
My flight instructors always tell me that the most important skill to have as a pilot is your decision making !
1. The biggest aviation crash in history had fog involved
2. The pilot responsible was the company
Safety Officer.
Good pilots make mistakes
Ara used bad judgement that day.
I'm grateful that this man has publicly defended Pilot Ara. I know everybody has a lot of courage to judge anonymously, but please remember this man lost his life too.
Accidents happen, and this was a tragic one. However, every single life on that plane holds the same value in God's eyes.
This poor man's family should not have to listen to or read insinuations that he was an incompetent or egotistical pilot who carelessly caused the death of himself and 8 others, including 3 children. It's not right and it's not fair.
I agree. unfortunately, the younger generations has elevated celebrities to GOD LIKE status. the world can be VERY CRUEL to anyone who harms a celebrity. had Kobe been the one flying that helicopter and he killed all his friends, there would be very little judging of him.
@@wasatchm WOW!
THANK YOU FOR THE ACTUAL TRUTH...ITS NICE TO SEE SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDS REALITY...NOT BEING A SMART ASS....IM BEING REAL....THANK YOU👍👍👍
Avoidable accident. Abort at Glendale and live another day. Over confidence. VFR into IMC is a killer of many.
Better yet... don't leave John Wayne Airport... Calabsas landing was iffy at best... its a 71 mile drive from Newport Beach to Calabasas...
john anderson on a Sunday could have made it in 130 minutes. Maybe less.
They were headed to Camarillo. Then a drive south. Worst fog in a long time. He was scud running, but in rising terrain.
Every flight is the Pilot's responsibility but Ara Zobayan did not want to die that day. Kobe did not want to die that day. No one in the world wanted that helicopter to crash that day. My heart goes out to their families. 😢
Tay Made And the world isn’t perfect, neither are you or I. Accidents happen to the best of the best. Unfortunately life isn’t fair. Ultimately children died which really rips at my heart. It’s a tragedy, but not everything in this life is “avoidable”.
Pure BS. You do what is right according to the weather and your abilities to use your certifications. It is that simple. Pilots are in command and never sway to the requests of the clients. NEVER or they are dead pilots and they get to take people with them. This dude should have told Kobe to drive...... I would have, gladly . He was IFR rated, but the company was against them using it as it raised their liability , evidently. They just wanted the pilots to fly in perfect VFR weather. It was not that sort of day, as the cops stopped flying their choppers.....Take their clues.......and DRIVE your Bentleys , Lamborghinis, Ferraris or what ever Kobe had in his driveway. It could have been a fun driving experience, letting these people drive luxurious cars, they never get to see or touch. That was not to be. They piled up in the chopper and they died. The end.
@@nordicpride9708 that "accident" was Avoidable! You Moron lol
@@linanicolia1363 it's about damn time SOMEONE ELSE BESIDES ME TELLS IT LIKE IT IS...WELL DONE
AND BRAVO FOR NOT MINCING WORDS👍😊👍😊👍👍👍👍
OTIS SPENCER Again are you a pilot? You don’t know shit about helicopters but come on here and make the egregious claim the pilot killed these passengers... the NTSB hasn’t ruled anything out. Study other S76 helicopter crashes. It’s a very reliable perform, but not without issues. But please tell us all about how qualified you are at your keyboard to explain this accident....🙄. And it is an “accident” by definition. I’ve been on many. If it turns out to be pilot error, it happens to the most elite highly trained. But your brain can’t even begin to understand how a helicopter flys and all the factors that influence that( mainly low altitude) which gives very little room for correction in an emergency. People die. Accept it. We will never eliminate human error or mechanical failure. But I’m sure if they find the rotor system failed or he suffered another control failure you and all the other RUclips layman “resident experts” will be all pissed off at the murderous helicopter company. Frickin cracks me up. Go fly a helicopter, then you can open your ignorant mouth.
Good pilots do make mistakes,unfortunately that first mistake can sometimes be your last.
No matter what happened they're all gone..... RIP to everyone and God bless the families.....
The pilot didn’t want to let Kobe down. So he took a chance and lost
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard
He let him down into the side of a hill.
Original 6 Hockey lol wow
Kobe was flying in helicopters before this guy even had a license to fly so you would think that he would also know that it wasn't safe.. you gotta put some this blame on kobe bc he is billionaire and plane don't move if billionaire say it don't move
Im sure Kobe or nobody else pushed him into the flight ... but maybe he was getting paid good for the charter & he just didnt have the balls to say
" Hey guys sorry but your daughter is going to mis this game because the whether doest give a shit about basket ball "
Why isn't it made public who actually cleared him to fly that day and why aren't they seeking answers as to why he was cleared or did he clear himself? No disrespect to Ara may he rest in peace. I was just wondering is all.
Yeah I agree but don't you think at some point the tower should have said once the weather started charged that he should land and wait for the fog to clear? I guess it's just hard for me to understand
Pilot is a dumbass to have even ASKED for fukin clearance! He wasn't allowed to fly in poor weather conditions.
I kind of wonder myself why the air traffic controllers allowed him to fly (but.... they aren't right there and may not have know how bad the fog was right there) Also, it seems like they should have known that company wasn't allowed to do that when he requested clearance and denied it. Soooo many questions right now!
All that time circling he could have landed and waited
@@nycionx8328 What the fuck?
I think Kobe planned this trip days before Sunday, Sunday came and bad weather, no time to drive to his academy. The pressure was on to get there. The helicopter took off and shouldn’t have. The pilot should have the last and final word if it’s safe to fly. It cost him his and 8 others their lives.
But they didn’t know any of this until it was too late!
I understand the internet is a place for opinions, but there’s surely a lot of ‘flight experts’ in this thread. I know half of these ppl can’t drive a car
SNP Images They probably can’t even walk a straight line.
i dont speed up when i see fog ahead. i slow down or find a place to park safely. that way you save lives. your own and probably 8 others.
@@termis007 what do you do when a deer comes out of nowhere when you are going 50 mph?
Phish Enthusiast so you’re saying the fog jumped out of nowhere?
@@Johnsor21 Fog is more dense in some areas than others. There are a lot of theories about what happened but it seems something happened that required a maneuver and either the engine stalled, something happened to the pilot or the pilot just plain couldn't see and got confused. Most likely won't have the evidence to truly know what happened and the investigators can only come to a conclusion based on the evidence they have. Who would be going at speeds of over 100 mph without being able to see?
He should have said: "I am sorry Kobe, but the conditions are too dangerous to risk your life, your daughter's life, and that of the other passengers plus my life. The firm may fire me for this, but I have to do what is best for us all" He didn't and now they're all dead. Bad decision on his part. Speak up if things aren't right.
The pilot knew weather conditions were not suitable for flying that day, but this was Kobe Bryant, and God forbid that he should tell him NO!!
Mann he was supposed to grown down the helicopter somewhere else instead trying to reach his final destination.
I don’t get why people are trying to crucify the pilot. Could he have made an error in judgment that he couldn’t correct? Maybe. But I was never under the impression that pilots won’t ever make a mistake. Every day on the road drivers make fatal mistakes. When I fly I have to trust that the pilot is highly skilled and will make good judgment calls but I’m fully aware that an error can happen that can cause the plane to crash. There is no comfort to be gained by blaming the pilot.
Well with that logic, then he absolutely should not have flown in those conditions. Why take such risks when it's not necessary? It's not like they were in a warzone.
it was an error that could have been totally avoided thats why people are blaming him. its a helicopter. you can make an emergency landing on top of a barn. sure there will be injuries but the massacre could have been avoided.
Thank you for this, and you're exactly right. I think when people grieve it is very normal to place blame to gain closure when there is no blame to place. I also haven't seen anybody considering a medical emergency with the pilot as a possible cause? I'm not a pilot so I have no clue if that is even possible, but I can imagine it isn't impossible to consider heart attack/stroke/seizure?
@@lfesuzuki I can say, because I've lived here 36 years, that the fog and especially very low dense fog rolls in and and out in the matter of seconds. Again, where they took off from and where the helicopter went down can have completely different conditions. Even if they don't at the time of take off it is highly feasible that fog could have rolled in very quickly. At my house I have had on many many occasions had dense fog roll in at the exact same time the other half of my home is clear blue skies.
@@termis007 hmm...I've never witnessed someone having a heart attack land a helicopter but pigs can fly too...
It wasn’t the pilot’s fault stop accusing him. RIP everyone❤️❤️
how do you know? a few things so far points in his direction
squadric how do you know Kobe didn’t force them to go
how do u know?
David Fetta FM Yeah, I’m sure that’s what he said, numbnuts.
YES it was! He never filed an IFR flight plan. (instrument flight rules) He should have been on instruments! You dont see to many airliner pilots doing this! (crashing into Mts. flying by visual flight rules... (VFR) The airlines always fly on instruments and they always file IFR flight plans! Its mandatory! It was the pilots fault!!. He killed everybody on board that aircraft! Its just to bad he killed all his passengers ! RIP KOBE and everybody else.
Ara made a bad call. He shouldn't have flown at the conditions. He was aware of IFR - his decision was fatal. It is a tragedy, but he is to blame for this accident.
He seems to be ignoring the fact they crashed.
After scouring RUclips vids, I’m a flight expert of 22 minutes and 25 seconds. I can unequivocally declare the pilot made an error. He was unskilled and inexperienced to navigate the fog screaming “Marco!”
And your 100% correct.
But tbf, it's easy to say this when you don't have to deal with 64 cubic miles of unprecedentedly heavy fog that forms all around you in just a second or two about halfway through your flight! You can't put yourself in his shoes!
The pilot could have put the helicopter down on the highway but he wanted to save embarrassment, save his job, save his career, and save his reputation.
Instead he acted in what he thought were his own interests and not the interests of his passengers.
His decision not to declare an emergency and land on the highway or suitable terrain was selfish and self-centered.
All this discussion is CYA crap, obfuscation, and apologetics for the aviator community. The pilot was guilty of involuntary manslaughter as a minimum.
really? u cnt jus land a damn helicopter on the highway smh
FlyHighii Pa In an emergency you can do anything you need to do to the extent of the emergency. BUT it was a pilot endured situation, so the FAA would have hung him out to dry. Instead he continued into conditions way over his head.
Say there Original 6 Hockey
This is not true about the FAA being such hard-assed bastards.
Even airline pilots have run out of fuel and didn’t get fired or their ticket lifted.
👍👍👍
Flying when LAPD didn't fly? Let's say Kobe asked him to fly. As an expert, he shouldn't have flown. Nothing makes sense. Kobe's other pilot said he never forced him to fly in bad conditions.
You don't know anything, just keep your comments to yourself. I knew the pilot and he was one of the best pilots I've ever known. Don't be insensitive.
Josie most definitely not the best pilot. Dk is right , this isn't adding up.
@@beermejosie I'm sorry for your loss. But do you REALLY know him? I mean we even find out new things about ourselves every day.
Josie “best pilots” make mistakes.
Flying In fog was a huge mistake
Josie
Dude stfu
I hate that Lorenzo is defending Ara, he knows conditions weren’t right to fly that day but Ara made the choice to fly and cost everybody their lives. It was a horrible tragedy but totally preventable had Ara simply said no, stop defending your friend’s poor choice Lorenzo!
👍👍Indeed, well said
Lorenzo is thinking , his old friend is about to get the axe and he is trying his best to save his family from financial distress. Very sweet.
Ara Zobayan is from an Armenian background, those people are very serious and intelligent people and they have great work ethics.
Uh.. have you lived in Glendale for one day?
@Repent man Did I mention black, white, or any other color? I said Armenian, like saying German, or French or Japanese, or Brazilian, etc....
@@taylormarie1603 Did I say anything about aviation? Nope, that means you're the Dip-Shit
@@DK-mq9zf No, I haven't, what is going on in Glendale? Armenians crashing helicopters on people's heads?
Rasheed Al-Nimr Al-Adab Siz Who TF was talking to you? Not me, so back up.
“I don’t know exactly what happened that caused the incident.” Really? Here’s the cause it’s blatant - loss of situational awareness VFR into IFR conditions and failure to declare emergency and go on instruments
Have you considered the possibility that the pilot could have had a medical emergency?
Gee, I’m happy YOU have all the answers and thought about all the scenarios because I haven’t.
@@sherylchapman4168 LOLz. His heart attack timed itself to fog and happened right at the hills...wake up kids: ruclips.net/video/TMhHjh8xhrE/видео.html *and* ruclips.net/video/R1_o-TjGW2I/видео.html
He obviously lacked judgment, period. He would have seen the weather building leaving Van Nuys and could have landed and arranged other transportation. Instead “get-there-itis” and the other factors ultimately doomed them all.
Lift1One 2300 what? Clown crashed because he made poor choice to fly in deteriorating visibility.
@Lift1Onewell now we know there was no engine failure or power loss so now what mr. Pro pilot. Am I opinion I think I screwed up and he knew that he screwed up so he went on to a suicidal mission he felt there was no way to correct it or get out of it you screwed up you the way I blame the pilot. I am a truck driver and I have driven in heavy fog and if I crash into someone and kill them would you think they're going to blame. If you ask a highly skilled pilot if this accident could have been avoided they will all answer yes.
There is so many people with so many opinions about who should have done what and who shouldn’t, why don’t you all just become pilots and let’s see how that’s gonna play out !!
Stop looking for reasons to put a blame on anyone. This is why it’s called an “ACCIDENT”
RIP everyone on that flight 🙏🏻
Have you ever todd of " Accidentology". It is a science that analyse the reasons of accidents to avoid them on the future...and many Times leads to profound changes in formation and réglementation.. .This is called a science! Because 90% of accident are caused by human nature or errors. And not by hazards or God or Allah! But maybe you're an " Inch Allah" man or woman! Intelligent, Smart people or smart organisations triés always to analyse and improvise themselves
" Stop looking for reasons", one of the dumbest statements i have ever hear in my all life!!!😂😂😂
I was living in Santa Barbara that morning, which is about 70 miles north of Calabasas, where they crashed. I noted when I looked out my window at our local mountains, what nasty, milky-thick, strangely falling scud we had that morning. The ceiling was not distinct, the clouds were super thick and falling; clinging down mountains, hanging in valleys.. a very, very nasty day to fly. As I followed his route, i noticed one thing: his airspeed.. as he sped across the valley, and then hit the 101, he most likely ran into the same crap that I was seeing in Santa Barbara, especially since right there where he was, the terrain starts to climb. He probably inadvertently punched in (due to no other option due to high air speed), and made the drastic mistake of not being mentally prepared for it, and did everything wrong. Had he just maintained heading up the 101, and pulled pitch, nose level, and climbed like a bat outta hell with his eyes on the instruments, he would have been on top in a matter of a minute or so. Former Army Chinook pilot and commercial airplane pilot here. It's sad, but he was going WAY too fast to give himself options when he ran into a surprise.
I believe it was avoidable. I also believe the piolet did not want to let Kobe down. Tragic nontheless💔
1Galan *pilot, not “piolet!!!” Good God Almighty you need some spelling lessons or a better computer that can spell check!!!
@@wallacebell4311 calm down , I knew exactly what it read.
Low ceiling and high mountainous terrain bad combination!
Can someone explain why the helicopter took a plunge and went down almost 200 miles per hour ? It seemed something went terribly wrong very fast
It was a terriost act covered up.. they killed one of the USA leaders
Donnie Makeveli You must be off your meds.
My speculation is that the pilot entered into a thick fog condition and because he was flying so low, lost contact with air traffic controller. In that moment, he was flying blindly and he started to climb to get above the layer of fog/clouds then that’s when he lost spatial awareness and lost control of the helicopter. Without a clue on which direction he was going at that point. And then the helicopter went into the side of the hill.
@@taylormarie1603 you must not know no better?
From what I read he hit twice, the first hit was in the turn then they lost control and basically kept accelerating until the final crash
Well it's tragic for all that lost there lives & the NTSB has said pilot error when he lost visibility he became spatially disoriented & when climbing he was really descending & slammed into a mountain killing everyone horrifically! I wish he would have followed LA pilots & been grounded that day. 😥
Why he went ahead into IMC, on a Special VFR clearance is beyond me.
No one flies into a mountain at high speed. He was in the clouds, saw him on steep terrain panicked and made a escape maneuver into steeper terrain..
The videos they have of him showing him real low and real slow in the area. He should have set the a/c down and Ubered
Knowing Kobe, he must’ve searched extensively for only the most qualified pilots. This sounds like a complete freak accident.
No, air tragedies are NEVER freak accidents. There were undoubtedly a chain of events leading to this fateful crash.. history will easily prove this to you upon analysis of literally any other crash.....unless of course the plane was shot down.
DerrickKet562 Probably not.
Omar Q he illegally entered clouds, lost control and aluminum plated hill side.
Glad to hear family and friends of the pilot speaking out. I really hope this doesn't turn into a "blame the pilot/throw the pilot under the bus" situation like it did when Aaliyah died in 2001. I'm a die hard Aaliyah fan and I wasn't cool with that then and I don't wanna see it happen now. Whenever an accident happens and people die, human nature wants to look for someone to blame. These pilots lost their lives too. People need to remember that.
Who is Aalkiyah? WNBA?
Well planes WANT to fly and they just don’t fall out of the sky so there is in fact a reason for the crash. It wasn’t some arbitrary event that we all should just accept and ignore. It seemed most probably like most crashes, a chain of events that led to the tragedy. Many red flags ignored along the way.
badgyrl310 Aaliyahs people overloaded an airplane against advisement, and had “get home itis ”. Yes the pilot didn’t have a current cert and there were drugs, but he crashed because of overloading. Confirmed by investigators. Her handlers were just as complicit as the pilot in that accident. I think this one with Kobe will likely come down to spacial disorientation. Maybe a terrain avoidance system could have helped, but that varies greatly depending on the scenario. It’s not a fail safe.
He thought he was bigger than the weather was and mother nature showed him he wasn't.
To Lorenzo and everybody on here who wants to talk about blame. Yes the man is dead along with 8 other lives. What we need from this is change. First he had no business, pressure or no pressure, flying into areas of zero visibility, it does not matter if your instrument certified or not. Second I hope this doesn’t become just another sounding board for getting much needed safety equipment, like TWAS, implemented in all passenger service helicopters. And last, like Chesley Sullenberger has said multiple times in interviews, it is a pilots responsibility to know his surroundings. Why be instrument rated with 8200 hours of flight experience and not take a few minutes to study the terrain your going to be flying into so that you have the knowledge of knowing your elevation’s and the minimum altitude you’ll need to fly in a particular area just in case you are put in a holding pattern. This pilot is dead yes, and my condolences go out to his family as well as all the families that have been affected by this tragedy, but we can’t just turn our heads the other way, because of feelings, friendships, or compassion, and not analyze the mistakes he made so that we can apply the necessary corrective actions to make sure we don’t suffer more loss of innocent people.
Pilot was a clown. CVR, FDR, GPWS wouldn’t have helped this guy. He had no business continuing this flight. It’s on his head plain and simple.
All these people saying give the pilot a break sound ridiculous. When you have a job that tasks you with human life there is NO ROOM FOR ERRORS, I REPEAT NO ROOM FOR ERROR!!!! I hope you guys have the same attitude towards doctors and nurses when they make mistakes. If you can’t handle a job with high responsibility like that go flip burgers at fucking McDonalds and stop making excuses for people that lack the skills for these jobs
Listen to the audio, he doesn't sound fully confident in his talks with air traffic control, its sad, he took a risk and things didn't work out, very little margin for error and high risk definitely not worth it. He was trying to fly below the clouds, tracking hwy with limited visibility and heavy fog on the ground as per witness statements that said heli sounded low or close to ground, so he's basically trapped above and beneath with higher elevation around him and trying to use road as a guide in an uncontrolled weather environment that's changing. Experts have said its rare both engines would go, and everyone says flying in fog / cloud you have very little time to react. I won't pass judgment but look at facts he at somepoint choose to keep flying and the passengers had no control over him making that ultimate decision.
You must have listened to a different audio than I did . He sounded very confident in his conversations with controllers .
@@Gus1966-c9o When he gets on with VANY tower his voice doesn't sound as confident, like either he's worried about something, or bothered, a little nervous, its subtle but its there. I'm not saying that's the reason for the crash, but his nerves were high, he might have been trying to play it cool. I think too everyone said he was one of the best at what he did so he was highly skillful so maybe he thought he could figure out a way, and maybe he'd done hundreds of flights where he took some risk and got through it because he was that good, I don't think it was a freak accident just that he gambled and ended up losing and it cost everyone.
He should’ve taken 118 like ATC asked him if he wanted to. The pilot was in way over his head and should’ve made the decision to bring the helicopter down instead of illegally climbing above the fog. He received permission for special VFR not to fly up in to the fog
Why was he going so fast while blinded, or maybe 90% visibility????
Comparable to: Flooring your accelerator while wearing sunglasses at night.!
I'm not gonna put all the blame on this pilot bc kobe should've knew better as well.. the both of them took that trip countless times and im pretty sure kobe knew they were taking a chance by flying in that typo weather..
Again people, it was clear skies when they left Newport Beach. I likely Kobe did not google what the weather in Los Angeles was that day because they were not heading to Los Angeles. Los Angeles had fog.
Are you kidding?! That’s a pilot’s responsability as part of their job SAFETY!!!
If he couldn't see, why did he dive so hard and so far?
A - Kobe convinced Ara to fly
B - Ara thought the conditions were fine
C - Ara was naive to the conditions
D - Helicopter failed regardless of conditions
Has to be one of these 4 right?
At the end of the flight, Zobayan flew directly south over the 101 then turned 90 degrees left, heading east (e.g. the opposite direction to Camarillo), Separate from him rising to 2300 feet at the end and then banking left, back towards Camarillo, into the hillside, the big question for me is why did he not head more diagonally west after clearing Van Nuys Airport air space or at turn right to go west over the 101.
@@richardhorgan3007 Btw the 101 turns to the left in both directions. Sounds like that pilot was confused if he was going east or west.
@Striker Thunderlick Horrible decision because it was non visibility fog conditions but he was flying low to follow the 101 freeway when he knew it was hilly terrain. Foolish!
@Striker Thunderlick Always safety first. That earns respect from anyone that has a real brain. It might have been he wasn't sure what was up from down. Sounds right, the weather got a worse when in holding pattern. Why didn't he turn back to his instruments?
@Striker Thunderlick In that scenario I would land rather than hold for 15 minutes especially if not relying on instruments as he apparently made fatal decision. Rather than clearing up, the fog likely got worse. This was turning point, as you mentioned.
100% pilot fault.
I flew with Ara many times.. he told me a story Well several stories about Kobe.. another thing I thought the airport was fogged in so my question is why were they making the helicopter fly for 15 minutes around the airport so flights could come in They said flights were grounded.. that is a mystery question.. also short story Kobe wanted Ara to land in his backyard in Newport Beach..Ara said no way.. Kobe assured him he had paper to document that he was able to have a helicopter land in his backyard..Ara believed him..when Ara landed he asked to see the paperwork.. Kobe went in the house and never came out.. oops Kobe lied to him.Ara told me this story.. swear upon it.. so you got to understand Kobe was manipulating and people say that speculation no I'm going to say that's fact.. who knows if Kobe maybe told him to continue.. All these factors at investigators who aren't really that good just to let you know most investigators I meet are mediocre.. anyway.. catch me if you can.. but just remember we'll never know what really happened.. no matter how good of a pilot you are no matter how much you try to investigate there's no way that you could make a decision on this one.. but I do understand they will always play the pilot no matter what That's the way life is and that's how humans are..
If you are a Computer Programmer, Mastech Auto Technician, Gaffer on a movie set or any job you can make mistakes and it doesn't cost anyone their lives. Being a pilot of any kind doesn't give you that flexibility. There was no reason to make this flight especially if you didn't have complete and accurate information on your destination. One bad decision cost 8 people their life and devastated numerous families unnecessarily.
This pilot was an LA pilot, not a highly qualified military pilot, or a civil rescue
Pilot. Not qualified to flight in these horrid conditions, because having the certifications ( instrument qualified) is not having the habilities: SKILLS ARE PERISHABLE if you don t use it in a very regular or daily basis.
Moreover, since the begininng he made hazardous décisions ( Police choppes were on ground), during the flight because of ego and hubris he did not décide to land to protecteur his passengers, it leads to a 15 minutes wandaring in flight.. and finally , je touched the bottom of his skills, and cannot handle properly a situation were he put himself, because a lack of practice of IFR ( moreover the comptant did not get that qualification) .....
It' s almost a studycase of a what pilot should not do.
One of the most avoiadable chopper accident of all Times and it will lead too many lawsuits and changing in Chopper flight réglementation....., i m saying that as a lawyer
I personally don't care how good he was before this flight, like god damn you killed fucking kobe
I am laughing at all these armchair aviation specialists in the comments that feel they have the right to speak on a subject they know nothing about.
Boblennon1012 Exaclty!! All of a sudden these imbeciles are all experts and have flown a Sikorsky. They can probably barely drive a car.
@@taylormarie1603 yeah, but common sense is free.
@@taylormarie1603 talking about cars: you slow down or park it if you see thick fog ahead. you dont speed up. guess what he did.
Yes, but many other videos with experienced pilots also saying that he should have not been flying in such thick fog in an area full of hills.
Most flights were grounded. He should not have gone in the air!
The pilot knew that conditions were not suitable for flying that day, but this was Kobe Bryant, and God forbid he should tell him NO!!
When accidents happen ...blame is not necessary and when loss of life happens as in this case so many so young so loved and well known...the end result is that U can't change the outcome all U can do is grieve and try to make sure that U live your life as best U can with as much Safety and Health and Love and positives that I am hoping for everyone today.
Either this guy had a heart attack or something. Why would you speed up if you know you are descending? That’s why I said maybe he had a heart attack.
I don't understand why there would not have been a second pilot on the flight in weather like that. the helicopter company probably should of had a second pilot on the flight because of the poor weather. of course, there not gonna want to pay for a second pilot though. and the client (KOBE) probably isn't gonna want to pay for an extra pilot.
@@wasatchm Right as if Kobe couldn't afford a second pilot.
If kobe had heard of a bad weather he would not have gone,because he had his daughter with him.he has flown in helicopters all the time and must know a bit about them he seems like a smart man to me. Some one know some more details and that's their families. It was have been a schedule he had and it would have been the pilot to alert there is bad weather.
Great post
Shadee..brown.......
@Tay Made The pilot has the last word and is the expert. Doesn't matter what Kobe wanted.
He wasn’t a military pilot with intense training in distress
Shhh Aua Military pilots aren’t exempt. They crash all the time. I’ve seen it first hand. Accidents happen and people die. It’s part of life.
Military are some of the worst pilots out there. Poor decision making is the cause. And most foreign pilots are poor.
Original 6 Hockey my son is a Air Force pilot for F16 and they go through rigorous physical and mental training unlike the regular pilots .... poor judgment but his judgment was probably altered because of the fog. My son says it happens
Shhh Aua Awesome that your son flies F-16. I’m 58 and went civilian route. 28,000+ hours accident/incident free flying. Flown with a lot of bad pilots with many being military. You’d be shocked. Either way it’s very sad that passengers entrusted that pilot with their lives. Very sad. Happens far to often. I’d rather see media cover fallen law enforcement/military. Congratulations to your son.
Ara Zobayan = pilot error 😕
Those pilot who think they are perfect remember you are not stronger that Mother Nature.
If he flew the same route the day before, it's obvious the fog was an issue and should have been avoided
ara zobayan used to be a normal guy and now everyone hates him cause he was the reason Kobe died
Seems like it
It was an honest accident and the pilot is dead. He had a family to and they are grieving also. So many people are not even thinking about that.
Rodney Brown Well glad to see this is the new approach to professionals who have human lives in their hands everyday. Wonder if you’ll think the same if a doctor or nurse or etc. makes a mistake with your life
@@taymarwilliams263 Everyone makes mistakes. The US is so fast pace and demanding that everyone wants things done right now!!!! It was a tragedy and maybe shouldn't of happened but it's a chance we take in life.
Rodney Brown You’re very right about how we are here in the US! I’m a nurse and we’re told we gotta be fast 🤔
why was he traveling 183 mph
apparently if you cant see anything you speed up and leave it to chance.
Ear witnesses say it was going slow and moving forward not downward. I am confused the video shows the helicopter moving normal, but low.
@@mrsj7763 This is what I read today. "Investigators said the twin-engine Sikorsky S-76B was traveling at more than 180 mph (290 kph) and 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) per minute when it crashed"
I don't care how great of a pilot Ara Zobayan was. He made an unethical choice to fly! He should have said NO! The weather is not good! His work ethic? He killed 8 innocent people who didn't deserve to die that way!! I'm still mad as hell at him! I'm not a pilot but I've been in dense fog trying to drive and that was scary as hell. I eventually saw where I could pull over to curb got out car to call for help. This is big for me! 8 innocent people lost their lives behind a careless negligent pilot who didn't have the guts to say hey we can't fly in this weather! I mean didn't he check the flying that day for the path he was taking? Was there another way to go! I'm big mad with this. Ion know if I ever will get over this
I'm no flying expert, only had a few flying lessons. But what I know is the first rule in aviation - Safety First.
What I find strange is that the pilot flew under these extreme conditions, while LAPD helicopters were not flying, from what I've heard.
I have taken a few rides in helicopters, of which one was in NYC, over Manhattan. The scheduled day was too cloudy with a low clouddeck (no fog), result - we're not flying today...sorry....I had to wait till 2 days later to take that ride over Manhattan.
All I want to say is - I don't understand why this happened and I think it's very sad, really. No need for this to happen.
All those lives - including basketball legend Kobe Bryant and daughter - wasted, and for what?! So sad, man. :(
I have been to LA too and LA is known for many fogs in the morning. We don't really know what happened in the cockpit/helicopter, but this crash was so weird...Most people would probably think - go land at the first best spot to be safe and skip that basketball match, or what I was thinking of - go high above the clouds with the permission of ATC ofcourse, and head to the beach and go land at the beach for my part. A lot of space at the very wide beaches in LA. But again, I'm no expert...but this crash is so sad...OMG. May their souls rest in peace.
my thoughts exactly. why gamble 8 other lives when you can just make an emergency landing.
Local conditions can change rapidly. He ended up in the clouds, got disoriented and flew into terrain. That's going to probably be the finding by the NTSB. While he was an instrument instructor the firm he was flying for only does VFR flights. Instrument flying is a perishable skill. The ratings mean nothing if you aren't training and staying current. It's very sad for all involved, he was probably a good pilot but even good pilots can make poor decisions and can't control everything. What if he hadn't been delayed 12 minutes waiting for clearance to transition controlled airspace? Might that delay have allowed conditions at the landing site to worsen? The bottom line is the PIC is responsible for the safe operation of the flight. Baring some mechanical failure the responsibility is going to fall on the pilot's shoulders.
@Tay Made Fog can vary in intensity with ceilings and visibility varying over time. This is especially true in areas where elevation change. Are you a pilot? Have you every taken a course in aviation weather? I'm a pilot with an instrument rating. Save the fool comment for someone that gives 2 cents about what you think regarding a subject you probably know very little about.
I wonder if the pilot have health issues? Heart attack?
Same. He didn't appear the picture of perfect health
Jeff Perteet Most people don’t appear in picture perfect health. And pilots are required to get regular medical exams, which the pilot was up to date on.
@IM PEACH To maintain a FAA pilots license you have to have a annual flight physical. So its a good bet his medical records were in fact up to date.
Gotta love people trying to blame everyone except Kobe Bryant, the guy who hired the pilot, and put 4 adults and 3 children on N72EX so he could get to a children’s basketball game on time.
There are two and only two people at blame here:
Kobe Bryant and Ara Zobayan.
I agree with you, but I don't think anybody was forced to fly with Kobe. Except, maybe his daughter.
Ignorant post. You obviously know nothing about flying. If the pilot cancels the flight; the flight is cancelled. Kobe has nothing to do with this. He respected Ara greatly and would never fly if told it was unsafe. The flight conditions were not unsafe at take off, but worsened and that's when the pilot made errors, which cost him and the others their death. This was pilot error most likely, but not when they took off
It was preventable but it was just poor judgement, a mistake. Let this man RIP, his family is suffering enough I’m sure. Kobe wouldn’t want u guys saying these things about his friend. God Bless Ara Zobayan and all others lost ❤️
I believe what happened to highly-skilled Ara Zobayan is a fantastic lesson to all of us. I believe it likely he was very-heavily tasked and simply got caught too quickly into yet another of the fast-coming gotchas of settling with power and its consequences too low. We all suffer from tunnel vision focus; its a human condition thing the many lives lost all through history keep reminding us about...but that we at just those times don't pay enough attention to.
so Kobe Bryant told him to speed up into the fog while holding his precious daughter.
@@termis007 These were each keen professionals; Kobe knew to let him do his job.
Lorenzo, thank you for your thoughts. So sorry for the loss of your friend and colleague.
The Pressure referred to in this incident I never imagined to be Company Pressure or even Passenger Pressure, but rather Personal Pressure - "I will not let this person down", "I can do this " ,
"I know this route by heart with my eyes closed. " THAT kinda Pressure was a motivation I believe. It's human nature in the Professional environment. MHOO
No matter the cause a sad result for many. RIP dear souls. 💔
Sure he was a nice guy, so what. We’re talking professional responsibility. When you receive special training and acquire a skill, your no longer an average Joe. The pilots primary concern is the safety of all souls aboard. No exceptions! Not a celebrity trying to go to a game. He should have never put those people in harms way. When he’s on the radio attempting to remedy the situation, he’s already realized his mistake. But he still proceeded. There was no mention of mechanical issues. Just a fu*king mountain in front of him. Those poor people who put their trust in the pilot were already in danger. Do you think they wanted to take any risks? I’ve been a passenger flying and driving in fog. We all know the fear that any passenger who looks out the window and can’t see has. There was no reason for that to happen. It was so easy to avoid. RIP
j000ker007 your talking like the pilot somehow had no risks. When you fly a helicopter, not only the passenger but your own life is at risk. What kind of pilot would continued to fly knowing he’s going to die.
Let's not blame him... it's just a sad tragedy .
Don’t speak on something you know Nothing about. His friends and family are grieving too. Try to be a decent human being, you might like yourself more.
Cody Cha , I hate to speak from experience but it’s true that accidents happen when you least expect it. If you think you will see it coming your mistaken. As he was. The point being, he had no right to put the passengers in harms way. Even if he thought he could handle it, He knew there was a risk. We all know shit happens. So he had a bad day.
Kendrick ross , in the construction industry we don’t leave it at “ it was just a tragedy “. That’s a sign of laziness and complacency. We preach safety every day so that tragedy’s don’t happen. They are usually 100% preventable. I’m not sure what or if that company has a safety procedure in place. The lawyers will find out. There would have been a safety procedure in place to follow for that scenario to avoid tragedy’s. You see how that’s works. Did you read the average joe remark. Just keep following the rest of the herd buddy, I don’t expect you to know better.
"... an incredible pilot." Well, yeah - incredibly stupid. Turned his aircraft into a flaming pile of wreckage and killed everybody in it. Incredible!
Ex Essex plus this guy had gotten in trouble before for doing shit he had no business doing! When ur tasked with other people’s lives in ur hands ( dr, nurse, etc) there is no room for error. Easy for others to say “ oh it was just a little accident” so I guess this is the new approach we should take for professionals that hold lives in their hands daily
Exactly!
Taymar Williams Every pilot will get a small FAA infraction at some point in their career. You just have about zero clue to this as you probably pilot a Chevy down the interstate and know nothing about helicopters. Love RUclips know it alls... pathetic
lmao this guy is staring at blank TV
I read where only certain models of helicopters are equipped with these units .Terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) is generally an on-board system aimed at preventing unintentional impacts with the ground, termed "controlled flight into terrain" accidents, or CFIT. The specific systems currently in use are the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) and the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) introduced the generic term TAWS to encompass all terrain-avoidance systems that meet the relevant FAA standards, which include GPWS, EGPWS and any future system that might replace them.
WOW LORENZO LOOKS VERY DIFFERENT
it was a pilot mistake.
something extremely fishy about this that I can't seem to get over
Pilot killed them...radio went silent for 40 seconds after his last response to the air control he was still flying for 40 seconds before he nosedived...no answer back to air control when they asked him questions completely silent for 40 seconds before nosediving.....smh
Lets place the blame on Kobe who should've cancelled this flight due to poor visibility. Obviously his daughter's game was more important to him. You don't have to be a pilot to see danger ahead!
when you get on a plane do you know how the weather is going to be or if its safe to fly?? I think most people leave it up to the pilot and assume the expert knows what he is doing.
Y would the pilot fly visual & not by the instruments of the aircraft n that kind of weather?!
His company wasn't allowed to fly by instruments.
That pilot did not want to die, people are so stupid
It was an act of God. I have no doubt of this. As a teenager a newly wed friend his wife and new born where traveling to visit her parents. The flight they booked had been cancelled but the wife insisted that they instead depart on the next flight. Inspite, of his desire to leave earlier the following day. They had a similar fate as Kobe and Gigi. The pilots visibility was impaired by fog as they traveled a mist of mountains. The pilot crashed. They were killed I will always remember the most important thing I heard during this painful time. His wife insistence on leaving that day on a later flight. As in Kobe's case his secretary phoned the night prior that he wanted to leave earlier then the scheduled time to view a game prior to his daughter's game.
Just wondering how you know the husband wanted to take a flight the next day?? Did he call his teenage friend to blow off some steam.
Imagine your stomach when you hear "TERRAIN TERRAIN". R.I.P
They didnt have that instrument in the chopper..
So, they couldnt hear
Terrain terrain..
This instrument could have saved their life
@@jonbonesmahomes7472 I meant on any helicopter you go on and you hear that. Wonder why there helicopter didn't have one.
Jon bones Mahomes it wouldnt if he was disoriented
@@filthycade2399 he would have gotten a warning earlier, would have known that he is in trouble..
In this case, he didnt have any warning..
@@jonpaul9514 It isn't mandatory.
Maybe Kobe insisted they go !
Less than 1% of IFR rated pilots are comfortable flying in zero visibility, and then add terrain change.. highly stressful situation and everyone makes mistakes when stressed..EVERYONE. Don’t blame the pilot 👨✈️
Cole Trick You’re one of the few people on this thread with some common sense. 🙏
So why do the pilot do it, decide to fly that morning when less than 1% are comfortable in those circumstances?
Should have just landed in Van Nuys and took a car from there It was Sunday no traffic ...Safety is first the pilot should have known if it was doable if not he should have just notified the passengers that it was too risky and that he needed to land.
No matter how you sugar coat it, the pilot fucked up and got them all killed
Pilot error at its finest. This pilot was obviously not proficient enough to fly into a cloud. His correct decision to do a climbing 180 degree turn to escape the bad weather was hampered by a startle effect which was compounded by an element of vertigo. His brain was not ready to fly blind. Majority of Chopper pilots are visual aviators. Having an instrument rating means nothing if you haven’t flown in IMC conditions for a decade. His Decision making was extremely amateur. This chopper company has to be grounded and all of their pilots have to be checked and evaluated by the FAA. NTSB final report is going to blame the pilot fully.
Interviewer didnt ask the right questions to exonerate the pilot. Cheap. He should have asked Lorenzo: do u think the pilot did the right thing to shoot up to 2300' in clouds when he was in special VFR. Isnt that a violation that led to the crash? Unfortunately the NTSB report will be this: Pilot error caused by severe inclement weather
Shawn Reddick Pilot error due to poor decision making caused by pilot exceeding his ability and entering IFR while trying to maintain VFR. Guy violated so many FAR’s it will be a list of errors.
@@original6hockey402 U are right. It is possible the pilot would have gotten it right if he had some extra time since the damage was done in 15 seconds. He could have used IFR even if his company didn't allow, declare emergency and land. He had already got them close enough to destination. He could have continued to scud run alongside 101 although that is dangerous by itself. He need not have asked for flight-following which made him go up in response to the controllers feedback. Or simply call it a day at Van Nuys
I wonder if the passengers were aware that they were going to crash. Sad, man.
They descended I think they said roughly 2,000 ft in a 60 second span, I believe at the very least for approx 30 seconds or more (no more than 60 obviously) they knew something was terribly wrong. From going from one relatively normal flight path, all the sudden shooting up and then shooting back down, they had to have felt something was very wrong coupled with the very milky, flying conditions. Poor dude inadvertently went into IMC and got spatial disorientation.
@@Yourworstfears what causing a pilot to go into IMC and get spatial disorientation?
India Ame'ye He didn’t mean to go into IMC, it was a tragic mistake and once you get into IMC not being able to see any visual cues to help your brain understand where you are, you lose track of what way is up/down, left/right and panic.
@@Yourworstfears Like what happened to John F. Kennedy Jr.
ann landers Exactly
But he flew with no blackbox.
I heard that helicopters don't have a black box.
@@rucianapollard7098 Wow if that's the case then no helicopter for me.
rest in peace ara zobayan , may god bless your family and friends that are hurting.
All pilot error...consider that a fact.
Kobe owned a jet airplane built for bad weather, why he flying in a under equipped 30 year old helicoptor should be the question ?
Copter lands right where he wants to
This accident is mysterious and scary couse it may never get solved
@Erick Amezcua dude, it was solved minutes after it happened. Sure, officially we all have to wait 12 to 18 months, just to hear, pilot flew in to IMC and the CFIT. No mechanical issues. Pilot error plain and simple. You do not fly into low weather visibility at 150 Kts. That's insane.
Slop Sec unless you flying a fixed wing on and ILS or GPS approach.
@@original6hockey402 Uhm, but we're not now are we? Try to stay on subject there Sky Captain.
Slop Sec Inexperienced clown aluminum plates hill top continuing VFR into IFR PERIOD.
For a normal customer the pilot definitely would not have flew. But this is Kobe Bryant he can't be late. He was under pressure so he took the risk but it was avoidable. RIP Kobe we will miss you!!
What risk?! Kobe had done this helicopter ride every morning since January 2nd, and unlike anyone who grounded their aircraft that morning, Kobe didn’t jump to any conclusions just because the sky happened to be gray. But TBF, Ara could have stopped the chopper and waited for the unprecedentedly heavy fog (all 64 cubic miles of it) to disappear or could have dealt with it differently. But he didn’t even have time to make a split-second decision. He was former Israeli military and had flown helicopters for more than 30 years! It only seems avoidable in retrospect!
@@samreilly1484 Dude you just answered your own question. The risk I am talking about is flying through dense, thick fog.
It was not just a casual grey sky that day.
@@Fong21051 it was just a casual grey sky that day until after the helicopter took off. They didn’t know they’d have to fly through “dense, thick fog” until it was too late. Anyone who grounded their aircraft that morning just happened to make a very lucky call due to the color of the sky. You can’t expect the sky to be blue every day.
Listen everyone can go back and forth it's not going to bring back anyone everyone died on that helicopter may their souls rest in peace. Not like the helicopter flew into a mountain dropped out of the sky obviously something went wrong
AGREED MISTAKES WERE MADE.
@Tay Made I THINK SOME CHANGES WILL BE MADE ...BUT I'M NEVER GETTING IN ONE MYSELF.
Is he Lorenzo Lamas ????he used to be an actor, ... if he is WOW he has changed !!!!
His Ethics? He Flew without terrain warning equipment in the Clouds/Fog.
For all the "blamers" out there, just stop. This was an ACCIDENT. Every time you get in your car/uber you take the SAME RISK. How can you all believe that this pilot intentionally risked his own and 8 other lives? Why? For a game? The weather changed, fog got too thick, he lost sight of the horizon and spatial disorientation took over. It's a common issue for pilots and it's sad. Stop blaming and do some damn research so you understand. Make an educated comment instead if pointing the finger.
It' s really not fair to speak with fellow pilots who were his friends about this, because lets be honest... Thats a loaded question to ask and not a burden anyone worth their salt is going to speculate about if they were good friends with the deceased pilot. Being good friends, means there is still a network of people within that friendship that remain like his family and anyone else this gentleman bonded with. I'm certain Lorenzo has a very strong opinion about what happen and he is going to keep that to himself as most reasonable people would.
Its not just his friends that have spoken out, I have seen several people speak out that met Ara only once or twice and all of them have said his reputation as a amazing pilot preceded him. He was known around the california aviation scene as 1 of the best pilots around. I mean listen to wat kawhi leonard said about him. Ara use to fly him around all the time. He said alot of times he would drop Kawhi off and go pick Kobe up right after. He stated Ara was the pilot u wanted flying u around. U dont just become a Head Pilot for a big company that have mostly rich and famous clientele very easy. If u think people like kobe would fly around wit his family wit anything other then the best ur highly mistaken. Shit happens even the best can mess up all it takes is 1 tiny mistake to end ur life. Ara was flying for 20 years hes prolly flown 12 thousand times b4 this accident. Just shows it doesn't matter how good u r or how long u been doing it any flight can be ur last
@@tylertwinem7213 Oh I don't doubt any of that for one second. My comment was aimed more at the media. When anything tragic happens, the media, and to some degree society, look for " the villain." No one wants to believe this was just a freak accident that tragically took the lives of all of these people.
And while I understand everyone's desire to look for answers as to how or why this happened, I think the media goes to great lengths to look for a way to spin it for headlines. And that misrepresentation does a disservice towards that process to uncover the facts.
The average person, not personally impacted by this, are going to draw conclusions based on allot of that misinformation and move on with their lives. And that happens within a couple of days. Only those who knew and loved these souls will continue to grieve and live with the void that tragedy has left in their lives.
That fog went away a few hours later.
Died over a few hours. Sad
Tay Made on Jan 26th?
Lorenzo, all his abilities crashed and burned into the side of that Calabasas mountain. RIP KOBE