The twin-engine Sikorsky S-76B slammed into a
hillside and killed all nine people on board in an accident that
still has many of the basketball great's fans grieving, with
more public memorials to come.
"It went over my head. It's thick in clouds. And then I heard a
pop and it immediately stopped," one of the witnesses called
into the 911 emergency services lines, according to audio
released by the Los Angeles County Fire Department on Monday.
"If this guy doesn't have night vision, I mean, he was, he's
completely IFR," the caller said, referring to instrument flight
rules.
The pilot, Ara Zobayan, was certified to fly by IFR and a flight
instructor with more than 8,200 hours of flight time, officials
said.
Zobayan had tried to climb out of a cloud layer when the
aircraft banked sharply and dropped toward the ground with a
speed of more than 2,000 feet (610 meters) per minute at impact,
the National Transportation Safety Board said.
Audio recordings of air traffic control revealed the pilot
requested flight following, a type of constant monitoring, due
to concerns about visibility, but controllers said he was flying
too low to be tracked.
The 911 recordings showed witnesses also had visibility on their
minds.
"I'm walking in the trail, I could hear the plane, I think it
was in the clouds but couldn't see it. Then we just heard a
'boom' and a dead sound and then I could see the flames," one
caller said.
Another summed up events more succinctly.
"A helicopter crashed into a mountain. We heard it, and now I'm
looking at the flames," the witness said.
Bryant won five championships in his 20 seasons with the Los
Angeles Lakers, retiring as the third leading scorer in the
history of the National Basketball Association. He also won an
Oscar for his short animated film "Dear Basketball."
Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna, one of her teammates,
another young friend, three of their parents and coach also died
on their way to a girls' basketball game.
The remains of all the victims were released to their families
on Monday, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|