# Kobe Bryant Dead in Helicopter Crash **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, basketball-nba\ **Created:** [January 26, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010 "2020-01-26T19:33:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/101 "2020-01-27T16:14:49Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > It’s good to add that perspective into the conversation, Inigo, so thanks. > But let’s remember that apparently two children died as well. (Yes, children are dying every day in Yemen, Chicago, and elsewhere…but still. It’s about feeling like you know someone a little, after years of seeing them on TV). You can feel horrible for the kids and others involved in the crash, but still not feel too bad about Kobe. I honestly didn’t even know about the rape, as I’m not a sports fan. I really only knew of Kobe at all because my brother has always liked him, enough so to name his cat after him. Now that I do know, I won’t say anything to my brother about it, but I can’t bring myself to cry over the guy. His kids though, and the others in the plane, absolutely did not deserve this. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/102 "2020-01-27T16:42:36Z")
Related to TMZ’s early reporting of the accident, possibly before next of kin were notified, years ago wasn’t there a celebrity who died and then a family member first found out through the press and consequently suffered something like a nervous breakdown? Who was that? My google-fu isn’t succeeding. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/103 "2020-01-27T16:49:18Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Related to TMZ’s early reporting of the accident, possibly before next of kin were notified, years ago wasn’t there a celebrity who died and then a family member first found out through the press and consequently suffered something like a nervous breakdown? Who was that? My google-fu isn’t succeeding. That’s was Buddy Holly’s wife, [Maria Elena Holly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Elena_Holly). She found out from television and had a miscarriage shortly thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/104 "2020-01-27T17:06:09Z")
Maria Holly, yes that’s who I was thinking of but couldn’t remember. Thanks, **Pork Rind**. That was The Day the Music Died, 03 February 1959. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/105 "2020-01-27T18:00:22Z")
My feelings on Kobe Bryant can best be described as complicated. I’ve always disliked him, but I’m always careful to differentiate between his career and personal life. As a basketball fan I have long been annoyed at the narrative that he is a top 10 all time player. There are articles written about how he wasn’t really the most clutch player and that he simply had a lot of volume. He also wasn’t very efficient and I felt he never really played the team game I appreciate. He simply isn’t on my list of five players I’d start a franchise with who played in the last 20 years. …but he was exquisitely talented at creating his own shot even when the numbers say he likely shouldn’t and as someone who isn’t a lot of fun to play sports with, I respect his competitive nature and work ethic. Off the court he always seemed to be reasonably thoughtful and give a decent interview and was by all accounts a very good dad. Then there was the Colorado incident. I wasn’t there and therefore have no interest litigating it, but in my eyes, it is at very least troubling. I do feel, however that people are more than their biggest mistake. I know nothing about helicopters, but as someone who has a potentially dangerous job, it’s very important to never take lightly the potentially dangerous aspects, no matter how experienced I feel I am. Lastly, I can’t imagine how horrible it must be to be sitting beside your child seconds before you know you will both likely die. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Rest In Peace Kobe, his daughter and all aboard the flight. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/106 "2020-01-27T19:10:59Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > This is going to be even more imprinted on people’s memory than the breaking news of Michael Jackson’s death eleven years ago. Kobe was a huge international icon. He probably had 300 million fans in China alone. Really? I think Jackson was much bigger. I have heard of Kobe, but that’s it. I don’t even know what he looks like. He is not known all around the world, Jackson was. Regardless of who he was, it’s sad that he has gone. And it must be really tough on his family. They have my sympathies. It also seems to indicate that private planes are not such a good idea. A number of celebrities gone that way. And I must admt that I would not to use a helicopter more than absolutely necessary - and so far it has not been necessary. When something goes wrong, it goes really wrong. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/107 "2020-01-27T19:55:45Z")
Kobe had a helicopter that’s usually owned by Charter Companies. He certainly had the wealth to keep it maintained and hire a excellent pilot. They would have been ok if they had listened to the No Fly warnings. Only a instrument rated pilot should have attempted flying in that thick fog. That’s assuming the helicopter was properly equipped and certified. It will be a long investigation and no doubt the pilot’s experience and licenses will be widely reported in the news. Aviation accidents like this are even more tragic because it was preventable. ---
**Author:** ![cgg419](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cgg419/32/2847_2.png) [@cgg419](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgg419)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/108 "2020-01-27T20:46:17Z")
> [@drm](#): > > Lastly, I can’t imagine how horrible it must be to be sitting beside your child seconds before you know you will both likely die. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. If it helps, they apparently hit the mountain at 161 knots (185mph) in dense fog. They never knew what happened. > **[Kobe Bryant Helicopter Didn't Have Black Box, LASD Patrolling Crash Site](https://www.tmz.com/2020/01/27/kobe-bryant-helicopter-pilot-misjudged-terrain-slow-down/)** > > The pilot flying Kobe Bryant, his daughter and 6 others misjudged the terrain. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/109 "2020-01-27T21:11:17Z")
> [@cgg419](#): > > … they apparently hit the mountain at 161 knots (185mph) in dense fog. That a pilot operating under “see and avoid” procedures would be flying near maximum speed with near-zero visibility in a hilly area is astonishing. Roughly the equivalent of driving 80 mph in a blinding snowstorm. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/110 "2020-01-27T21:11:58Z")
> [@cgg419](#): > > If it helps, they apparently hit the mountain at 161 knots (185mph) in dense fog. > > They never knew what happened. > > [Kobe Bryant Helicopter Didn't Have Black Box, LASD Patrolling Crash Site](https://www.tmz.com/2020/01/27/kobe-bryant-helicopter-pilot-misjudged-terrain-slow-down/) I read this and am wondering if they realized what was going on with the maneuverings of the pilot, though. I believe he went up and down and was moving around enough for people to know there was an issue. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/111 "2020-01-27T21:47:12Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Hard for me to consider Kobe’s death a net loss to humanity. I’m not sure how long I’m supposed to hold raping the hotel housekeeper against a guy, but I’m disinclined to let that go. Personally I am nauseated how willing the general pubic was to let it go as well. Luckily you are not a Washington Post reporter: **Washington Post journalist [Felicia Sonmez] is suspended after tweeting a link to a 2016 story about Kobe Bryant’s rape case just hours after he died in helicopter crash** > **[Journalist who linked to story about Kobe Bryant rape case suspended](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7932771/Journalist-suspended-tweeting-link-story-Kobe-Bryants-rape-case-2003.html)** > > Felicia Sonmez (right) received death threats after sharing a link about Bryant, who was accused of rape in 2003 by a 19-year-old hotel employee. The charges were dropped and a civil suit was settled. > **[Opinion | The Post’s misguided suspension of Felicia Sonmez over Kobe Bryant...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/27/posts-misguided-suspension-felicia-sonmez-over-kobe-bryant-tweets/)** > > A veteran reporter tweets out a news story about Kobe Bryant. What's the problem? > **[Washington Post Suspends a Reporter After Her Tweets on Kobe Bryant...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/business/media/kobe-bryant-washington-post-felicia-sonmez.html)** > > While social media praised the N.B.A. star after his death, Felicia Sonmez posted a link to an article on the allegations of sexual assault made against him in 2003. Here is a list of all the people who died: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna College baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife, Keri, were on board the helicopter with their daughter Alyssa, who played on the same club team as Gianna Bryant. Christina Mauser, the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls’ basketball team Ara Zobayan, pilot Mother and daughter Sarah and Payton Chester > **[Mothers, fathers, daughters, coaches: Here are the 9 killed in the Kobe...](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-27/kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash-victims)** > > Nine people, including Kobe Bryant, were killed when a helicopter crashed and burst into flames in Calabasas. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/112 "2020-01-27T22:51:01Z")
[Per Fox 5 San Diego, friends said the pilot was IFR rated.](https://fox5sandiego.com/2020/01/26/pilot-identified-in-helicopter-crash-that-claimed-kobe-bryants-life/) ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/113 "2020-01-27T23:07:50Z")
[Pilot/tower radio chatter](https://youtu.be/B0pQfgi9ZqU) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/114 "2020-01-27T23:13:06Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Luckily you are not a Washington Post reporter: > **Washington Post journalist [Felicia Sonmez] is suspended after tweeting a link to a 2016 story about Kobe Bryant’s rape case just hours after he died in helicopter crash** > [Journalist suspended for tweet on Kobe Bryant 2003 rape case | Daily Mail Online](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7932771/Journalist-suspended-tweeting-link-story-Kobe-Bryants-rape-case-2003.html) > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/27/posts-misguided-suspension-felicia-sonmez-over-kobe-bryant-tweets/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/27/posts-misguided-suspension-felicia-sonmez-over-kobe-bryant-tweets/) > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/business/media/kobe-bryant-washington-post-felicia-somnez.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/business/media/kobe-bryant-washington-post-felicia-somnez.html) > > Here is a list of all the people who died: > Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna > College baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife, Keri, were on board the helicopter with their daughter Alyssa, who played on the same club team as Gianna Bryant. > Christina Mauser, the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls’ basketball team > Ara Zobayan, pilot > Mother and daughter Sarah and Payton Chester > [Mothers, fathers, daughters, coaches: Here are the 9 killed in the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-27/kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash-victims) Others are getting death threats. > [@](#): > > Within a couple hours of tweeting about former NBA star Kobe Bryant’s rape allegation, Julie Lalonde had received thousands of replies—many of them advising her to kill herself, or that she deserved to be raped… > > In 2003, Bryant was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman at a hotel he was staying at in Eagle, Colorado. The woman, an employee at the hotel, alleged Bryant choked her and forced her to have intercourse; evidence of the alleged attack included bruises on the woman’s neck and vaginal injuries. Bryant said the sex was consensual. The allegation never made it to trial. Ultimately, Bryant’s accuser decided not to testify; his defense team raised her sexual history in preliminary hearings, and she was identified and smeared by tabloids… > > Bryant later settled with his accuser in a separate civil suit. In a public statement, he apologized to her and said he understood she did not consider the sex consensual. > **[Reporters and Activists Are Being Harassed for Saying Kobe Bryant Was...](https://www.vice.com/en/article/v74bgd/reporters-and-activists-are-being-harassed-for-saying-kobe-bryant-was-credibly-accused-of-rape)** > > Women’s rights advocate Julie Lalonde was told she should die, while a 'Washington Post' reporter has been suspended from her job. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/115 "2020-01-27T23:16:22Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > That a pilot operating under “see and avoid” procedures would be flying near maximum speed with near-zero visibility in a hilly area is astonishing. > > Roughly the equivalent of driving 80 mph in a blinding snowstorm. :eek: Wow. That’s so irresponsible. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/116 "2020-01-27T23:56:13Z")
> [@Dogginit](#): > > [Pilot/tower radio chatter](https://youtu.be/B0pQfgi9ZqU) Given that the LAPD had grounded their helicopters I wondered if the pilot had called for special VFR. The radio radio log confirms that was the case. My guess is that he was following 101 and where it bends South he mistakes Las Virgenes RD for it and starts following that. When he realizes the the heading is wrong he starts climbing. He makes it to 2400 ft above sea level before a 4000 ft per minute descent and crashes at about 830 ft above sea level. So if my math is right he’s descending at 67 feet per second. with a difference of 1530 feet to impact that would have taken about 23 seconds. And for those who don’t know what “Special VFR” is it’s approval to operate in a controlled air space below VFR minimums. It has to be asked for by the pilot and approved by the tower. Normal VFR requires 3 miles of visibility. To my understanding it’s done with the understanding that the visual conditions beyond the airport meet VFR conditions and this is to allow a temporary transition to that airspace. I’ll have to listen to the radio transmissions again but I believe the tower asks the pilot if he is currently VFR as he approaches their airspace. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/117 "2020-01-28T00:01:55Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I read this and am wondering if they realized what was going on with the maneuverings of the pilot, though. I believe he went up and down and was moving around enough for people to know there was an issue. If the pilot was inadvertently making a controlled turn/roll then the passengers would not necessarily feel it. A controlled turn keeps you centered in your seat. And if that’s the case then the pilot would also not feel it and it then becomes disorienting if the instruments are showing a banking roll and visually it’s all a blur. Here’s a[video of Bob Hoover pouring iced tea in a barrel roll](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9pvG_ZSnCc). ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/118 "2020-01-28T00:35:22Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Absolute incompetence by the pilot, assuming this diagram is correct: [https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/01/27/02/23909280-7931909-image-a-63\_1580092422544.jpg](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/01/27/02/23909280-7931909-image-a-63_1580092422544.jpg) > > I mean, how do you end up that far west, scud-running? They were nowhere near their destination, nor on a path to get them there. \ My apologies if this was mentioned upthread, but that map/image in the link is incorrect. They were reportedly headed to a game/practice in Thousand Oaks, California, and planned to land at Camarillo Airport, which is about 25 miles west of the crash site (just east on that map of where that largish river on the left meets the ocean, which is Ventura). The San Gabriel Airport (formerly El Monte Airport) would not have been a stopping point. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/119 "2020-01-28T00:55:16Z")
[Forgive me if this was posted, but here is a pretty good description from an eye(ear?) witness. Guy does a good job explaining how it sounded.](https://youtu.be/28QYy8lrww8) ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010/120 "2020-01-28T01:04:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [Forgive me if this was posted, but here is a pretty good description from an eye(ear?) witness. Guy does a good job explaining how it sounded.](https://youtu.be/28QYy8lrww8) He sounds credible, but his observations don’t align with the ADSB data. For example, at no point was the copter hovering overhead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kobe-bryant-dead-in-helicopter-crash/847010.md?page=7)