Skip to main content

Pilot: The mystery of Kobe Bryant's chopper crash

(CNN)What caused the chopper that was carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others to crash on Sunday?

At around 9:45 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) on a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter was lost against a hillside near the town of Calabasas, California, about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. We are now painfully aware that the aircraft was carrying nine people that included Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter.
National Transportation Safety Board officials were on the site Sunday to begin their investigation, and like them, we will have to be patient and wait to learn what caused this disaster. In the meantime, I'll try to shed a little light here about factors to consider.

This particular helicopter was manufactured in 1991 and is owned and operated by what appears to be a well-established charter operation. (The company, Island Express Helicopters released a statement that said, in part, that the pilot, "Ara Zobayan, was our chief pilot. Ara has been with the company for over 10 years and has over 8,000 flight hours. We are working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate the cause of the accident and we are grateful to the first responders and local authorities for their response to this unimaginable accident.") It is a sophisticated piece of machinery designed as the commercial version of the military Black Hawk. The helicopter is far more advanced than, say, the type seen on the opening intro of the 70s TV show M*A*S*H.

Two Pratt and Whitney turbo shaft engines power the large, main rotor and the tail rotor. In other words, two small jet engines operate in unison to supply power to the gearbox that turns the helicopter's blades, making it a very reliable system.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Indian news anchor takes her own life in Hyderabad

One of India’s distinguished news anchors, Venkannagari Raddhika Reddy has taken her own life after returning from work on Sunday , in the Indian city of Hyderabad. As per police reports, the 36 year old returned to her Srivila Apartments at Moosapet after anchoring the nine pm bulletin, and was reported to have jumped off from her terrace on the fifth floor, dying instantaneously due to head injuries. The Kukatpalli assistant police commissioner, Bhujanga Rao has reported: “She left her bag in the flat and went straightaway to the terrace of the five-storied apartment and jumped from there. She died on the spot due to multiple injuries to her head and limbs.” A suicide note was also found from Radhika’s bag in which she stated that no one was to blame for her suicide which occurred solely due to depression. She also termed her “brain as the enemy” in the note. The newscaster’s colleagues, in conversation with Indian media have revealed that she was staying with her parents an...