CALABASAS, Calif. — Days after nine people died in a helicopter crash, investigators are still trying to answer the most important question – why?
To do that, they’re examining every inch of twisted metal left smoldering on a hillside near Calabasas, California.
The Sikorsky S-76B that belonged to Kobe Bryant is a chopper known for luxury – and safety.
According to the New York Times, 10 countries use that model to transport their heads of state.
But figuring out what went wrong on Sunday is not going to be easy.
CBS News reported the helicopter was not equipped with a black box, which could have provided investigators with critical information about what was happening in the cockpit moments before the crash.
Here’s what the NTSB knows for sure:
- The pilot requested to fly through controlled airspace and circled for 12 minutes until the request was approved.
- Air traffic control was notified the pilot was climbing above the cloud layer
- Radar contact was lost at 9:45 a.m. local time.
- An iPad found in the wreckage will be used in the investigation.
10News spoke with aviation experts who suggested bad weather was most likely to blame. The cloud ceiling was very low, and fog was so thick that even the Sheriff’s Office helicopter wasn’t flying.
The Sikorsky S-76B can be flown by instruments when visibility is poor, but not every helicopter pilot is accustomed to doing that.
“Somebody that checks out as a karate black belt at age 18, if he doesn’t do it again until he’s 35, how good is he at those skills even though at one time he was very well practiced?” 10News Aviation Expert Mark Weinkrantz said.
Investigators have not ruled out mechanical failure.
What other people are reading right now:
- President Trump's Middle East peace plan calls for Palestinian state, settlement freeze
- 'Star Voyagers' | Remembering the astronauts killed in the Challenger space shuttle explosion
- US seeks to send experts to China as coronavirus death toll rises to 106
- Sheriffs: Group broke into homes, stole $1M in stuff, including Dali artwork and a Jimi Hendrix guitar
- 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes the Caribbean, reportedly felt in Miami
- FDA warns Purell to stop claiming its hand sanitizers can stop the flu, Ebola
- The Tampa Bay 55 podcast is here. Listen to the first episode!
- Attention viewers: WTSP is undergoing planned work on our tower
