Originally Posted by
Airbubba
Ever since the incident occurred, I've been looking at news articles trying to find the scheduling constraint that made completion of the flight within those next few minutes surrounding the time of the crash imperative, and here it is.
Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star was said to have been headed to Mamba Academy - which he founded - in Thousand Oaks for a youth tournament involving his daughter and her teammate Alyssa.
The tournament, an event with a hard start time, was almost certainly the impetus for pressure the pilot felt. He likely considered the successful delivery of the two girls and their fathers (one being the pilot's employer) to the tournament as a key in the relationship of the families, and also the pilot's standing in Bryant's eyes as a guy that could be depended upon to make things happen. I believe this attribute would be highly valued by the fiercely competitive NBA superstar.
Those of you in the UK would be familiar with this self-imposed pressure on helicopter aircrews, as an accident with most of the same ingredients occurred in 2014. The crash involved a high-profile owner, absolutely qualified aircrew, and a recent model superbly equipped twin engine aircraft.
The zero/zero takeoff was in fog at night from an estate in Norfolk. From reading the thread on PPrune, I gathered the crew had relaxed their inviolable standards because of external pressures. This type of insidious event happens all too often, and one must be prepared to voice a firm "No" when they are presented.