On Sunday, Jan. 26, a tragic helicopter crashed happened in the hills above Calabasas, California, wherein the basketball legend Kobe Bryant was among the nine passengers who died after the incident.
Bryant, 41 years old, was scheduled to coach for a basketball game held at Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks when suddenly the helicopter crash occurred before 10 am.
The authorities received a 911 emergency call from the said aircraft around 9:47 am; however, the responders, including 56 fire personnel from Los Angeles County Fire, found the quarter-acre brush fire-- created by the crash-- already surrounded the area.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva confirmed on the reports that nine people were on-board on the helicopter and all dead, including the pilot and other eight passengers.
"Our firefighters hiked into the accident site with their medical equipment and hose lines to extinguish the stubborn fire as it included the brush fire ... and the helicopter. The fire also included magnesium, which is very hard for firefighters to extinguish because magnesium reacts with oxygen and water," said L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl Osby.
Gianna Bryant, 13, one of the helicopter crash victims
The 13-year old daughter of Bryant, Gianna Maria Onore Bryant, was also among the nine casualties from the helicopter crash.
She was on-board on the same helicopter as her father to fly out to Thousand Oaks to play basketball, according to Lady Mavericks team director Evelyn Morales.
Cause of death of Bryant, an old helicopter?
Sikorsky S-76B helicopter is the specific model of Bryant's crashed aircraft. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the said aircraft was created in 1991 and was registered to Island Express Holding Corp based in Fillmore.
The National Transportation Safety Board said that the Sikorsky helicopter does not have any prior incidents of helicopter crash from the past. Still, the company behind the aircraft said that they are willing to give out any information to help with the investigation to find the cause of the reported helicopter crash.
As reported via Los Angeles Times, there were few witnesses, while Bryant's aircraft suddenly flew unusually low and then totally vanished into a foggy cloud.
"It [didn't] sound right and it was real low. I saw it falling and spluttering. But it was hard to make out as it was so foggy. There was a big fireball. No one could survive that," said Jerry Kocharian.
Orange Coast Baseball Coach John Altobelli Confirmed Dead
Other confirmed casualties from the said tragic incident were Orange Coast Baseball Coach John Altobelli along with his wife and his daughter.
John's brother, Tony Altobelli, confirmed this via CNN. Altobelli was also known as the former assistant baseball coach at the University of Houston.
Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and More Personalities Mourned the Death of the Black Mamba
Another retired basketball legend Michael Jordan also gave his deep sentiments to the death of Kobe on which he referred to as his 'little brother.'
L.A. Lakers star player LeBron James was also seen through a video crying after hearing the bad news of Kobe's death.
"Just admiring him for so many years and seeing him from afar, and then being able to be in practices with him, and me watching and learning - it's just too much. The story is just too much. It doesn't make sense," said James via New York Post.
A former player of LA Lakers and one of Bryant's closest friend, Shaquille O'Neal, also created a tribute for his former partner on the team.
Former United States President Barack Obama took his sentiments to Twitter by saying that Bryant is already a 'legend' in the basketball industry. So far, the investigation about the helicopter crash is still ongoing, and other identities of the casualties were still being hidden due to confidentiality.
