A witness to the deadly crash of a helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others said it sounded normal just before slamming into a hillside, and wreckage at the scene showed no sign of engine failure, federal investigators said in a report released Friday.
The Jan. 26 crash occurred in cloudy conditions, and experts said the "investigative update" from the National Transportation Safety Board reinforces the notion the pilot became disoriented and crashed while trying to get to clear skies around Calabasas, northwest of Los Angeles.
The veteran pilot, Ara Zobayan, came agonizingly close to finding his way out of the clouds.
He told air traffic control he was climbing to 4,000 feet (1,219 meters). He ascended to 2,300 feet (701 meters), just 100 feet (30 meters) from what camera footage later reviewed by the NTSB showed was the top of the clouds.
But rather than continuing higher, Zobayan began a high-speed descent and left turn in rapidly rising terrain. He slammed into the hillside at more than 180 mph (290 kph) and was descending at 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) per minute.
"If you exit the bottom of the clouds at 4,000 feet per minute at that high speed, you've certainly lost control of the aircraft," air safety consultant Kipp Lau said. He said Bryant's chopper could have emerged from the clouds in just 12 more seconds, assuming it was ascending at 500 feet (152 meters) per minute.
"Once you break out of the clouds, it's clear. Everything lines up with the body," Lau said. "Now you have a real horizon."
Mike Sagely, a helicopter pilot in the Los Angeles area with 35 years of flying experience, said the aircraft's last minutes suggest Zobayan had started to execute a maneuver designed to pop above the clouds by flying up and forward.
"When he went into the clouds, he had a full on emergency," Sagely said.
When pilots try to turn instead of sticking with the pop-up maneuver, "probably in the neighborhood of 80 to 90% of the time, it's catastrophic," he said.
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Deetz said Zobayan previously had told him that he did not have actual experience flying in clouds, despite being certified. Deetz said that isn't uncommon.
Bryant's helicopter did not have a device called the Terrain Awareness and Warning System, known as TAWS, that signals when an aircraft is in danger of hitting ground. The NTSB has recommended the system be mandatory for helicopters but the Federal Aviation Administration only requires it for air ambulances. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Brad Sherman, both California Democrats, have called for the FAA to mandate the devices.
While NTSB member Jennifer Homendy has said it's not clear if the warning system would have averted the crash, aviation expert Gary Robb said Friday's report highlights the need to equip all helicopters with the warning system.
"If this helicopter had had TAWS, Mr. Bryant and the rest of the passengers would be alive today," said Robb, a lawyer who has written a textbook about helicopter crash litigation.