On Friday, Feb. 7, an update regarding Kobe Bryant's cause of death was released by the U.S investigators. It is now confirmed that the cause of death of Bryant and other more eight casualties, including Bryant's daughter, Gianna Bryant no longer focuses on engine failure.
Kobe bryant's chopper showed no sign of engine failure: Did the investigation found a different angle?
A helicopter crash killed Los Angeles Lakers veteran player Kobe Bryant including his own 13-year-old daughter Gianna, which happened on Jan. 26. After almost a week of the investigation made by the National Transportation Safety Board, the team has now crossed out the possibilities of 'engine failure' from its chopper Sikorsky S-76B.
It was first rumored that engine failure might be the reason for Sikorsky's low flight before the said tragic event. Now, NTSB clarified that this is not true, and the aircraft did not show any sign of this rumor.
"Viewable sections of the engines showed no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic internal failure," the investigative update said.
Real cause of Kobe Bryant's death
Since engine failure was not the reason behind the chopper's malfunction, investigators are still on their feet to find out the real cause of the nine casualties on the Sikorsky chopper.
NTSB noted that there was one witness on a mountain bike trail during the time of the accident. According to his statement, "blue and white aircraft emerge from the clouds passing from left to right direction to his left. He thought it was on a forward and descending trajectory."
After a few seconds, he already saw the aircraft crashing rapidly, about 50 feet below him.
Kobe Bryant's pilot had proficient training
Another angle that the investigators are dealing with is the low-visibility during the said flight.
NTSB clarified that the pilot of the aircraft named Ara Zobayan scored satisfactory grades in maneuvering low-visibility conditions; however, the chopper's company Island Express Helicopters was found out on to be only permitting to fly by visual flight rules when carrying paying passengers.
As of now, NTSB is confident that they will finish the investigations and released the final report, which is expected in 12 to 18 months.
"Our investigators have already developed a substantial amount of evidence about the circumstances of this tragic crash," said NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt in an accompanying statement Friday. "And we are confident that we will be able to determine its cause as well as any factors that contributed to it so we can make safety recommendations to prevent accidents like this from occurring again."
