Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash (per TMZ)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It happens in three’s. Who’s next?

Wtf is wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

Tragic. My condolences to his family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It happens in three’s. Who’s next?

Wtf is wrong with you?

What is this PP referring to? Was there another tragedy this weekend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sheriff says 9 bodies on helicopter.

He said 9 on the flight manifest.

After he said 9 on the manifest a reporter asked if from what they saw he believed that there were 9 people and he said yes.

. I stand corrected. What a terrible tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so horrible! I know traveling by car is just as dangerous but I think as a mom I wldve insisted our children not travel on a helicopter. Noway!

They were on their way to a basketball game for the girls. The helicopter flight time from Irvine to Thousand Oaks is 25 minutes.

Driving that distance is an 1 hr 45 mins in normal traffic.

Did the flight stop anywhere en route? Maybe pick up the OC family in Orange County, and then pick up Kobe in Calabasas?

Kobe and his family lived in Orange County (Newport Beach).

[Anonymous]

Awful

[Anonymous]

This is so tragic. Rip to Kobe and everyone on that helicopter. Life is but a vapor. Praying for all the families.

[Anonymous]

Those poor 13 year old girls. I cannot imagine the terror of their last moments. So awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those poor 13 year old girls. I cannot imagine the terror of their last moments. So awful.

I pray that it happened quickly and that they didn’t have time to be afraid. Heartbreaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so horrible! I know traveling by car is just as dangerous but I think as a mom I wldve insisted our children not travel on a helicopter. Noway!

Who told you that car travel is just as dangerous?

[Anonymous]

I wonder if the helicopter pilot had his instrument rating?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so horrible! I know traveling by car is just as dangerous but I think as a mom I wldve insisted our children not travel on a helicopter. Noway!

They were on their way to a basketball game for the girls. The helicopter flight time from Irvine to Thousand Oaks is 25 minutes.

Driving that distance is an 1 hr 45 mins in normal traffic.

Did the flight stop anywhere en route? Maybe pick up the OC family in Orange County, and then pick up Kobe in Calabasas?

That flight path shows the helicopter circling in the Burbank area. I can't tell if they landed or not. I wonder what that was about? Maybe they were trying to decide if the weather was clear enough to go on?

I have been on a helicopter that went up in iffy weather; we circled around a bit and then the pilot decided that the ceiling was too low to get to our destination. The pilot was very apologetic -- it can be hard for a pilot to tell the passenger paying the $$ that the pilot can't take them where they need to go (for the record, I told the pilot I wasn't going to second-guess his judgment).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so horrible! I know traveling by car is just as dangerous but I think as a mom I wldve insisted our children not travel on a helicopter. Noway!

They were on their way to a basketball game for the girls. The helicopter flight time from Irvine to Thousand Oaks is 25 minutes.

Driving that distance is an 1 hr 45 mins in normal traffic.

Did the flight stop anywhere en route? Maybe pick up the OC family in Orange County, and then pick up Kobe in Calabasas?

That flight path shows the helicopter circling in the Burbank area. I can't tell if they landed or not. I wonder what that was about? Maybe they were trying to decide if the weather was clear enough to go on?

I have been on a helicopter that went up in iffy weather; we circled around a bit and then the pilot decided that the ceiling was too low to get to our destination. The pilot was very apologetic -- it can be hard for a pilot to tell the passenger paying the $$ that the pilot can't take them where they need to go (for the record, I told the pilot I wasn't going to second-guess his judgment).

pp here -- I now see that TMZ reported that they did circle Burbank waiting for the fog to clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so horrible! I know traveling by car is just as dangerous but I think as a mom I wldve insisted our children not travel on a helicopter. Noway!

They were on their way to a basketball game for the girls. The helicopter flight time from Irvine to Thousand Oaks is 25 minutes.

Driving that distance is an 1 hr 45 mins in normal traffic.

Did the flight stop anywhere en route? Maybe pick up the OC family in Orange County, and then pick up Kobe in Calabasas?

That flight path shows the helicopter circling in the Burbank area. I can't tell if they landed or not. I wonder what that was about? Maybe they were trying to decide if the weather was clear enough to go on?

I have been on a helicopter that went up in iffy weather; we circled around a bit and then the pilot decided that the ceiling was too low to get to our destination. The pilot was very apologetic -- it can be hard for a pilot to tell the passenger paying the $$ that the pilot can't take them where they need to go (for the record, I told the pilot I wasn't going to second-guess his judgment).

pp here -- I now see that TMZ reported that they did circle Burbank waiting for the fog to clear.

It was his personal helicopter and personal pilot. They would not have lost money if he decided not to go. I hope a lawsuit doesn’t become of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so horrible! I know traveling by car is just as dangerous but I think as a mom I wldve insisted our children not travel on a helicopter. Noway!

They were on their way to a basketball game for the girls. The helicopter flight time from Irvine to Thousand Oaks is 25 minutes.

Driving that distance is an 1 hr 45 mins in normal traffic.

Did the flight stop anywhere en route? Maybe pick up the OC family in Orange County, and then pick up Kobe in Calabasas?

That flight path shows the helicopter circling in the Burbank area. I can't tell if they landed or not. I wonder what that was about? Maybe they were trying to decide if the weather was clear enough to go on?

I have been on a helicopter that went up in iffy weather; we circled around a bit and then the pilot decided that the ceiling was too low to get to our destination. The pilot was very apologetic -- it can be hard for a pilot to tell the passenger paying the $$ that the pilot can't take them where they need to go (for the record, I told the pilot I wasn't going to second-guess his judgment).

pp here -- I now see that TMZ reported that they did circle Burbank waiting for the fog to clear.

It was his personal helicopter and personal pilot. They would not have lost money if he decided not to go. I hope a lawsuit doesn’t become of this.

That can make it harder. It’s your job to get the owner (rich, powerful, used to getting his/her way) where he wants to go. Not just one charter client. One time, I was waiting for a private plane that had a big time VIP on board. The weather conditions were pretty good, but the airport was scary under the best of conditions. The pilot took one look and “noped” right out of there. Flew to the next major airport & majorly screwed up the schedule. The criticism of the pilot was relentless. But, you know what? Good for him. If he wasn’t comfortable, he was right not to do it. Everyone lived, & the schedule got worked out. I did always wonder if the pilot kept his job, though.

I was reading reports that the helicopter was registered to a service company that seems to have a stable of pilots. So it’s unclear how experienced the pilot was. The atc recordings show that they were flying under “special” VFR (which is what you request when the conditions aren’t good enough for regular VFR). There is some discussion that the helicopter in question didn’t have IFR capability (at least with one pilot?), which may explain why they didn’t switch to instruments when conditions deteriorated. Someone said that, although fog is not uncommon there, the fog today was unusually thick and low, so that may have been unexpected. As with most accidents, it’s will probably prove to be the cumulative result of a series of events/bad decisions.

What happened at the end of the flight is mysterious — the pilot suddenly turned toward the mountain, seemed to realize that he was too low, and tried to pull up. The helicopter then made a precipitous descent. No clear if the engines failed (there were two, so that seems unlikely?) or the pilot pulled up so fast the helicopter stalled out.

It’s all so very sad.