Kobe's Sikorsky appeared to be climbing and turning around

Flightradar24.com ^ | Duke C.

[Duke C.]

According to the ADSB transponder data he was following the 101 Fwy to Thousand Oaks. Then suddenly turned and dropped rapidly. Last data point shows he was dropping at 4,000 FPM which is pretty extreme...

[Moonman62]

I think we’ll have to wait for the radar returns to know exactly what happened, as well as any ATC communications. Also, some modern avionics record data that’s almost as good as a flight data recorder.

I don’t think the ADS-B returns are all that precise. The last moments of the flight probably aren’t represented.

[halfright]

Kobe was a philly boy and I am sorry God has called him home but can we get the same media exposure for the Marine that just got his brains blown out in some field in Afghanistan?? I have never needed a sports figure for anything. It’s a GAME. Sheesh.

[loucon]

I remember reading that the lines of chance of survival vs. non-survival cross at about 25mph. That was specific to falling injuries ie. falling from a height.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

You’re not going to survive 4000 FPM, that’s a descent rate of 66.66666666 ft/sec, you can’t hit that hard. I saw the effect on a full-size jet that hit at 1800 FPM, the airframe was a write-off and it’s amazing nobody died.

[righttackle44]

Oh. Was I being disrespectful???

Listen, you. I didn't have much respect for Kobe Bryant--and I think he could have done many things differently in his life. And I certainly didn't support his respect for all things Kaepernick and crew.

But to trash on him on the day that he and his daughter died in a horrid accident that claimed the lives of others who did not participate in Bryant's activities, is more than disrespectful. And you know it. It's too bad that some Freepers don't have class, respect, and gravitas in days like this one.

[Vaquero]

Correct me if I’m mistaken. Cannot a powerless helicopter autorotate down at relatively slow speeds?

[Moonman62]

At the very least, very low visibility was involved.

https://www.pprune.org/showthread.php?p=10672439

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.

[SamAdams76]

Was Kobe one of the anthem kneelers?

I haven't paid attention to pro basketball since the days of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Since then, it seems like basketball is nothing but 8 foot players slam dunking all the time which is boring to me.

Actually, I've moved away from pro sports in general. As I get older, it gets more meaningless to me. I don't even plan to watch the Super Bowl next week. Just give me a good book to read and a glass of wine.

Still, I hate to see anybody die in a helicopter crash, be it a basketball star, an office worker or the guy who's supposed to come over to fix my garage door later this week.

I don't even like helicopters. They seem dangerous to me. I rode one when I was in the Marines and didn't like it one bit.

[Biggirl]

Can we be a little bit more classy please. Thank-you.

[Mr. K]

downdraft from a gust over the hills?

[SoCal Pubbie]

More just a dick, really but certainly disrespectful to the13 year old daughter who perished.

[Jolla]

yes, you were very disrespectful.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

That’s a decent rate of 66.7 ft/sec. You’re not going to survive that. A helicopter doesn’t have 6 feet of hood-space or trunk to absorb that impact.

[catbertz]

There’s video footage on instagram of the chopper going down. As I posted in the other thread, I’m no expert but this is how it looked: The whole craft was spinning wildly, and it looked like the main blade was still spinning. The chopper dropped fast and crashed with a big fireball. That area is very popular for hiking, so you could hear people screaming and strating to cry in the background. Pretty rough to watch.

[Biggirl]

That is true.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yeah, you were. The guy’s been dead a couple of hours. I’m not a real fan of ballplayers either but what you said is downright offensive. There’s probably a half-dozen people in the world (outside of terrorists) that I’d treat like that, a ballplayer isn’t one of them.

[Maris Crane]

I do not follow sports anymore, but I notice that there are many athletes today who are often in trouble. DUI, Sexual stuff, etc.

I never remember hearing Bryant’s name mentioned in that context. I think that is remarkable. That is why I and perhaps others have more of a sad feeling for this gentleman and all the attention. He seemed unique.

[yarddog]

I used to work in a 14 person group with two guys who were former military helicopter pilots. While at a group meeting someone mentioned about auto rotating in an emergency.

Both of them sort of laughed. I still don’t know exactly what they meant.

[PROCON]

Cannot a powerless helicopter autorotate down at relatively slow speeds?

Correct as long as the blades are intact, but there are so many other things that could go wrong too, which we will find out about in the coming days.

[loucon]

After looking it up, that’s 35mph.