"We are not here to determine the cause of the accident, we will not determine it on this scene". These are the words of Jennifer Homendy of the United States Agency for Transportation Safety (NTSB). His team, accompanied by the American Aviation Regulator (FAA), are on a mission to shed light on the conditions of the crash of the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight other people, this Sunday, northwest of Los Angeles.
For the moment, little convincing information has been recorded on "a really terrible accident scene", as qualified by Jennifer Homendy of the NTSB, who specified that "the debris was scattered over about 180 meters".
Besides Kobe and Gianna Bryant, the other victims are a baseball coach, John Altobelli, his wife Keri and their daughter Alyssa who played basketball in the same club as Gianna, Christina Mauser, assistant coach of the two teenage basketball team. , Sarah and Payton Chester, a mother and daughter, and pilot Ara Zobayan.
Suspicious radio communications
Sunday, around 9 a.m. local time, the helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76B, which carries nine passengers including Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, takes off from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana towards the Mamba Academy, a sports center owned by the star located in Newbury Park, 135 km away.
Passengers must attend a basketball game on site. But the flight conditions are bad. Los Angeles police, interviewed by AFP, said the lack of visibility was such that their own helicopters were left on the ground in the morning. The pilot, Ara Zobayan, is however experienced. But in radio communications between a control tower at Los Angeles International Airport and the helicopter, relayed by the Daily Mirror, we clearly hear the air traffic controller say "You are still too low" (You are still too low) ).
Death of Kobe Bryant: who were the other eight passengers in the helicopter
Shortly after 9:30 a.m., the helicopter crashed into the Calabasas hills, 520 meters high, northwest of Los Angeles. Local officials said firefighters received a call shortly before 9:37 a.m. regarding the accident, which caused a brush fire on a hill.
"Spatial disorientation"
According to the British newspaper The Daily Mirror, the helicopter had reduced its altitude to escape the thick fog which deteriorated the pilot's visibility. Philippe Lesourd, helicopter pilot and instructor who has been flying in California for 29 years, told AFP that the weather had probably made the pilot lose control of the aircraft, explaining that he had most probably suffered from "disorientation" "after losing sight of the ground when entering the clouds.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
The track of a failure at the level of the two engines, on the other hand is regarded as “almost null” by a former pilot of the company Island Express, Kurt Deetz, who transported several times the helicopter. Investigators are expected to continue raking the crash area until Friday to gather "perishable evidence".