Posted on 02/10/2021 12:05:14 PM PST by L.A.Justice
WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board revealed the likely cause of the deadly helicopter crash that took the lives of nine Southern California residents, including NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter on Tuesday.
During Tuesday’s board meeting, the NTSB was critical of veteran pilot Ara Zobayan's actions in the final moments of the flight from when the aircraft entered the Van Nuys airspace to when it collided with the hilly terrain in Calabasas.
"There were opportunities along the way to have reversed the course and prevented this crash by simply landing," NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.
In the 13 findings in the investigation, the NTSB highlighted its seventh, which states the crash was likely caused by the pilot’s decision to continue the flight due to self-induced pressure to fulfill his client’s travel needs, lack of an alternative plan and plan-continue bias.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxla.com ...
Yep,with all of his experience, training and an instructor. He thought, "yea I got this" and made a rookie mistake and flew into IFR conditions thinking I can do this.
Helicopter pilots in many areas don't fly IFR but especially so in sunny areas. That said, I don't think his deficient IFR skills got him; his unwillingness to say no to a high profile client is more likely the culprit.
A person thinks that it would be unlikely they could become confused about whether they are flying level, climbing or descending..or turning.. but when the visibility is poor or nonexistent and then add in rain that is coming in sideways, or snow..and your brain simply fails at orientation.
That's why the instrumentation exists....in adverse conditions you must trust the instruments.
I like glass cockpits but it is still wise to have the basic instruments backed up by a few old-fashioned analog instruments...just in case.
This is a sweet glass panel but the old-fashioned instruments you see are still a must IMO.
“Get There itis” is lethal in aviation
In the fog, yeah. Nobody is perfect, no matter how much flight time they have. Especially if their inner ear decides to get it wrong.
I don't know how much she will get if she wins the lawsuit...In my opinion, not "too much"...Other families have filed lawsuits as well...
Yeah, at the time of the accident I didn’t get why the fog gave this guy such a problem. He seemed pretty experienced. A glance at the instruments is all it takes.
In Army flight school we had it drummed into us,
“BELIEVE YOUR INSTRUMENTS!!”
Those who heeded had no problems. Inside a TH-13T when inadvertent IMC made it look like the inside of a light bulb, the instruments told a different story than the seat of one’s pants.
“You have 178 seconds to live” should be required viewing by all pilots.
8,577 hours??? How is it even possible for any pilot anywhere to even log 1500 hours not and get IFR rated??? Its not that big of a deal. This pilot had his PPL-SEL (Private Pilot License - Single Engine Land), Commercial License, Multi-Engine license, and Rotorwing License. The article didnt mention those but...comeon folks...8,577 hours is a LOT of flight time. Were they able to do tox test on the pilot?
Biden has spatial disorientation all the time. Just sayin’.
Happens a lot with new pilots. They know enough to be dangerous.
Barring Flight Data Recorder data that indicates a late unusual attitude, the NTSB cannot possbly know whether or not the pilot experienced spatial disorientation.
It is more likely that he totally lost terrain awareness.
At least thats what Hillary told them to say happened.
Give it up. The pilot is innocent and deserves prayers and pity, since he was pressured to fly by stupid Kobe. The storm that crashed the helicopter was intense. No helicopter belongs in storms like that.
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The name Zobayan is Armenian and Kobe’s pilot was one of only 22 people in the US at that time with the name. Armenia is a small country just east of Turkey.
There was a piece that came out about a month after this happened by an Air Force helicopter pilot, thousands of hours, instructor, the whole deal, and he recounts how he came seconds from this happening to him in pretty much the same area.
And it wasn't a storm, much less an "intense" storm. It was a calm Southern California day with a heavier-than-usual coastal morning fog. That's it.
That is the most speculative and least fact-based crash investigation report I have ever seen.
If you can’t ascertain a cause but the pilot was killed, just blame him. It gets you off the hook and he can’t argue about it.
We visited that area in late September 2019. Had breakfast at Paradise Cove Beach Cafe (Sand Castle of Rockford Files), then drove over the mountains into Simi Valley to the Reagan Library. Sunny as could be at the beach, but the fog up in the Santa Monica mountains was so thick we had to slow way down. I would hate to have been flying in it.
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