I am also wondering about who else was on board. When Colin Mcrae died the same way, I think it was his two sons with him as well, which magnified the tragedy.
ABC News says “There were no survivors in the crash around 10 a.m. local time Sunday, fire officials said in a press conference. None of the other victims have been identified,” at this point.
[Moderating]
Since he’s an athlete, not an artist, let’s move this to the Game Room.
I’m still shaking…
Shoot. TMZ is reporting his daughter is also dead. 
As the shock wears off
Goddammit
Goddammit
GODDAMMIT!
Just an awful day. Can’t help but think about his wife and other daughters. Just devastating
One of his four daughters, Kobe and the pilot. Two others remain unidentified. That daughter, Gigi, was 13 years old and very good basketball player. They were on their way to a practice facility.
Man, that’s a real gut punch.
Not to hijack the thread, but as a former Army helicopter pilot, I can assure you that autorotations give a nice soft landing. The problem as you stated is helicopters don’t glide for long distances and are usually flown fairly low so it limits your choice of landing areas. On a joint USAF exercise at Ft Bliss we had A7 pilot loose his engine at 20,000 ft. thought the desert looks flat and thought he would ride it in. Got to 100 ft realized hitting all the 5 ft dunes at over 100mph forward speed would not be good so he punched out. We routinely autorotated to the ground (for training) and jus landed between the dunes with no forward air speed.
Kobe, and his daughter.
Man, that’s just gotta be pure hell for his family.
This isn’t a hijack at all. Is there enough information for your to give an educated speculation on what happened?
If I may also semi-hijack briefly, how much more dangerous are helicopters than fixed-wing airplanes, statistically? Are there stats on how many helicopters crash on a per flight basis compared to the fixed wings? (i.e., 1 fatal crash out of 100,000 flights, etc.)
How thorough a pre flight mechanical check is done on a helicopter before each take off?
How thorough a pre flight mechanical check is done on a helicopter before each take off? I bet the mechanic is going to have to go through some heavy duty therapy.
Very thorough (if the pilot is worthy of the title).
Scene of the crash:
Foggy conditions reported.
Kobe, his 13-year-old daughter, and three other people.
And he’s only first eligible for the Hall of Fame this year. That’s how recently he retired.
I have no words.
I hope the crash killed them at once, and that it wasn’t flames burning them alive.
Foggy and low ceilings. Local pilots looking at the radar/ads-b track saw the helicopter was accelerating in a descending left-hand turn when it hit the mountainside. Immediately spatial disorientation comes to mind but that’s just a thought based on a lot of initial information.