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The Kobe Bryant helicopter video before the crash 0:43
(CNN) - Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) records reviewed by CNN reveal that Island Express Holding Corp., the company that operated the helicopter in which Kobe Bryant was traveling on the day of his death, was certified only for flights on visual flight rules (VFR).
At a press conference Tuesday night, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that the VFR only certificate for Island Express is part of the investigation.
Visual flight rules require pilots to stay away from clouds and with good visibility while using both visual and instrument navigation.
- These three recommended features were not in the helicopter that carried Kobe Bryant and another 8 people
Some aviation experts have questioned why the flight was made under the so-called "Special Visual Flight Rules", rather than an instrument flight plan, which could have been carried out at a higher altitude, a clarity of terrain, with navigation only by instruments, and under the constant direction of air traffic control. Because the charter operator was not certified for instrument-guided flights or IFRs, this would generally not have been an option.
Investigators have not suggested that the lack of such certification has contributed in any way to the accident, only that it is part of the investigation.
"As for how the instruments were maintained, if they were maintained according to IFR standards, that is something we will study in the maintenance records," said Bill English, the NTSB investigator in charge of this accident, in the briefing.
CNN has contacted Island Express to get a comment on the certification issue. So far, the company has not responded to requests from the media apart from saying, in a statement, that “we are working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the cause of the accident and we are grateful for the services emergency and local authorities for their response to this unimaginable accident. ”
In this case, the pilot at one time requested, and was granted, a brief authorization of Special Rules of Visual Flight to fly visually in worse than normal conditions. In the briefing on Tuesday, Jennifer Homendy, a member of the NTSB Board, described such a special authorization as "very common, not unusual." While the pilot, Ara Zobayan, was personally certified to fly only by instruments, his charter company was not, according to FAA records.
CNN aviation expert Peter Goelz, former director of the NTSB, told CNN early Tuesday that “under IFR, you present a proposed flight route, it is approved, and then when you take off it is under the control of flight controllers . You are under his direction. Under VFR, you trace your route, control it yourself and fly it yourself. ”
Kobe Bryant