Kobe Bryant killed in S76 crash
 

https://www.tmz.com/2020/01/26/kobe-...-in-calabasas/

A very high profile owner/operator.

L.A. Times is reporting crash of Sikorsky S-76 helicopter near Calabasas with five people on board and no survivors.

http://www.latimes.com/california/st...near-calabasas

Some news here.

https://nypost.com/2020/01/26/kobe-b...icopter-crash/

Aviation safety net confirms S-76B N72EX

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/232468

Daily Mail with crash site video

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ter-crash.html

Very sad news

Helicopter crash kills Kobe Bryant
 

Kobe Bryant in Helicopter Crash
 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51256756

US basketball legend Kobe Bryant has been killed in a helicopter crash in California, US media report.

Bryant was travelling in a private helicopter when it burst into flames above the city of Calabasas, according to the reports.

The LA County Sheriff's department said that five people died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas on Sunday, with no survivors.

It did not immediately publish any names.

It said it received reports of the crash at about 10:00 local time (18:00 GMT).

Five-time NBA champion Bryant, 41, played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He retired in April 2016.

Bryant's achievements include being the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player and two-time NBA Finals MVP. He was also two-time NBA scoring champion and a two-time Olympic champion.

He also won an Oscar for best short animated film in 2018 for for Dear Basketball, a five-minute film based on a love letter to the sport he had written in 2015.

Photos purported to be from near the scene show very low clouds, and some obscured hills.

In what may be a sad coincidence, the town directly north of Calabasas is named.....Hidden Hills.

https://www.vvng.com/tmz-kobe-bryant...icopter-crash/

Apparently N72EX.

From FlightRadar24:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....74a206ccbd.jpg


https://www.flightradar24.com/data/a...n72ex#23a8271e

FlightAware:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....80169ae864.jpg

FlightAware tracklog:

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...1708Z/tracklog

.

......... the helicopter he was traveling in crashed and burst into flames Sunday morning amid foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, sources told the Los Angeles Times.

13yr old daughter apparently on board also.

Why would it have circled like it did at Pasadena?

Some news stations reporting at least one of Kobe’s children were on board.

From the FR24 data it appears that the helo was following the Ventura Freeway westbound before taking a turn back east toward the hills.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....efc5d94ce7.jpg

ABC reported briefly that all of his kids were on board. That didn't add up and seems to have been an error.

Live video from the crash site shows quite a large debris field.

Just read that his oldest daughter, 13yo Gianna was onboard. Debris field looks there was some sort of breakage before it hit the ground? Anyone with expertise would share their thoughts? Any other basketball fans there would be heavy hearted.

Closer to Glendale than Pasadena. Lots of sights there. LA Zoo, Griffith Park, Forest Lawn. Perhaps someone on board lived near there and they were circling their house...?
Could be anything. It was a private helicopter. The owner could ask the pilot to circle anywhere for a better look at anything I guess.
Very sad.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Custard Cream
Why would it have circled like it did at Pasadena?

Waiting for a clearance to the Burbank class C perhaps

.

...... the pilot had pretty much been following The Ventura Freeway (valley) ..... heading westerly toward the Mamba Acadamy (destination) (aprox another 20-30 miles) to the west when flight aware shows a sudden turn south and then east into the hill ..... blue arrow shows route to the academy ....


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1d4bb1578b.jpg

Last moments on FR24 data shows sharp increase in altitude with associated loss of airspeed. Possible flight towards rising terrain in low vis conditions and attempted emergency climb/turn/stall?

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1ed56fce9.jpeg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....597ce9bbad.png

Last ping on the FR24 track has the chopper with a ground speed of 153kts descending through 1700'.

Crash photo shows debris spread over a fair area. Impact with quite a bit of forward speed, perhaps? CFIT or mechanical?

Bloody sad.

Are these aircraft equipped with EGPWS?

It’s not an airliner.

Yes, EGPWS is standard equipment on the S-76D, as is a CVR and FDR.

This wasn't a -D, this was a S76B, from 1991.

Photos of the cockpit in old registration...avionics could have been updated: https://www.helis.com/database/cn/51524/

HaH

Many helicopters of that class have EGPWS.

To anyone suggesting "sightseeing" as an explanation for the circles seen on the flight path, I think another possibility could be that they were put into a holding pattern by ATC waiting for traffic to clear. Might be a more probable explanation given the weather.

Witnesses on the ground reported the engines “spluttering” before the crash

You might want to check again which color that is what on FR24...

In a press briefing this morning the sheriff stated that 1 pilot plus all 8 pax have perished in this accident. Total 9 fatalities.

Last data points showing sink rate 5000 fpm and 160 kts GS, and erratic GS and VS just prior, that is not a helicopter being flown normally. Actually the data points don't make much sense at all.

ATC recordings have them requesting Special VFR after being told multiple en route areas are reporting IFR conditions

FR24, unreliable with signals in a hilly area. I wouldn’t take too much from the info given. What it does show is an increase in speed right at the last moment and a decrease in altitude (dive?) but FR24 cant reliably be taken as real accurate Flight Data info.

How meaningful is request for special VFR?

9 up in a B model. That's pushing range and CG.

It's meaningful because it suggests the weather was unsuitable for visual navigation, and the pilot needed to see where he was going to get to where he wanted to go. Which, I would think, is a more challenging option than changing flight category, turning around, and perform an instrument approach back where you've departed from.

Liveatc Hold and request Special VFR through BUR and VNY
 

https://forums.liveatc.net/index.php...0;attach=10604

References to 5, 134, 118, 405, and 101 are Freeways.

101 runs from Van Nuys westward past crash site to Camarillo, the apparent destination.

I live about 80 miles/130km SE from the crash site, but the terrain and microclimates are similar. I was mountain biking and there was a low-lying fog layer about 100-200 feet thick, with a broken around 3000-5000 feet (my estimate).

Another mountain biker and IFR-rated pilot was interviewed. He was first on the crash scene and said there was very dense fog with 3-4 feet of viz. They heard the S76 just before and during impact but did not see it. However, witnesses in the general area (I know those accounts turn out inaccurate) saw the helo "falter" and "sputter", and then steeply descend. So there seemed to be good visibility elsewhere.

The coastal scud in that area blows in from the west along Hwy 101 and hugs low-lying terrain. My very early speculation- they were VFR on top over a patchy ground fog layer in the canyon. A mechanical issue forced a descent into IFR and terrain.

Proving, for the umpteenth time, that FR24 ground, altitude, and airspeed traces are not always reliable for interpreting the actions of an aircraft prior to a crash.

Eh???
There are seats for 14 in an S76, be it a B or not. The B has the PT-6 engines and can happily carry the full load, no cg problems, but with less than full fuel. With 5 less pax, there is plenty of fuel and no cg problems at all.

Could the "sputtering" be a bit of blade slap as he did a few tight turns?