Kobe Bryant's Last Flight: What We Know About His Helicopter's Route | Visual Investigations

A deeper look at the route of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter before it crashed to understand how such an accident could occur.

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[wiseferret]

That poor child. It always hits me hard when the young die. So many experiences, so many opportunities, never to be seen. I hope her family makes it through this.

[neal]

It just wasn't safe to fly a helicopter on that day that was a very very bad decision.

[paulbetts]

NYT’s forensic architecture and ability to recreate events chronologically and non-speculatively is truly remarkable. I am always so impressed by the quality of these short films you release after a major event. Awesome work.

[redwolfmendoza]

Great visuals, it helps make sense of what the heck happened that day

[blancolirio]

You missed the key data points at the end of the flight....he had climbed well above the final point of impact.

[MrGNugget]

That’s the thing about helicopters and planes, you’re way less likely to crash in those than a car but if any little thing goes wrong it’s the end for everybody on board. What a tragedy!

[thespadestable]

The cause of the crash:

The Marine Layer fog that was pushing over the mountain ridge caused pilot to loose sight of US 101 and he became disoriented. He did not trust himself flying blind with just using IFR and guidance from flight control and was trying to stay as low as possible in search of US 101 visually, while trying to navigate within a mountain ridge. Visibility was next to zero due to the dense fog similar to what's seen covering the Golden Gate Bridge, with an unpredictable change in ground elevation below him.

3 bad situations happening all at one time, that might on average never resulted in an accident or death, but this time it caused the death of a famous retired professional basketball player which is why there's a lot more focus on it than if it was a Joe Nobody.

The media needs to be more clear to the general public that the pilot experienced two totally different types of fog during the flight. When he departed he was experiencing typical radiation fog which did not effect his use of VFR which is why he followed the highway system through LA and into Burbank. Once he got into the mountain range he was now experiencing Marine Layer/Sea Fog/San Francisco fog which first reduced his visibility to 2.5 miles then to almost 0.0 miles. That is the fog that forced the sheriff department to ground their flights and hindered air searching efforts, not the radiation fog.

[shuqahx]

Man if I was in that helicopter and the pilot was just hovering around because of weather conditions I would have told him to just turn around and go home. Don't fly through it.

[nocalsteve]

CAUSE OF CRASH: The pilot was trying to fly as low as possible to stay below the overcast in poor visibility. As the terrain started to rise along the 101 the pilot was forced to start climbing into the overcast which blocked all of his visibility and he lost sight of the ground and could no longer track the 101. The helicopter flew south of the 101 before the pilot finally gave in and tried to turn around by attempting a 180 degree turn to the left while in complete instrument conditions. In the turn, which could only be completed by flying on instruments, the pilot sped up and started descending trying to get back to lower ground so he could get back under the overcast and regain visual orientation. Unfortunately, the pilot's horrifically poor judgement had put him in a position where he was flying completely blind, had lost track of where he was, and had no way of knowing where the terrain was. He descended too soon, at too high of an airspeed, and struck a hill that he could not see or avoid. Everyone died instantly. What the pilot did was illegal and reckless, and a common cause of aircraft accidents. All pilots are aware of this situation and are trained to avoid it. A reasonable pilot exercising basic judgement would have landed at Van Nuys Airport, but this pilot continued on taking an unacceptable risk with the lives of his eight passengers.

[martinzubero]

The best one I’ve seen so far. Please update when new information is released. Thank you.

[chasam]

Pilot panicked ..everything hit at once ..weather, clients, responsibility and fear ..poor guy got caught out ..RIP.

[AshgabatKetchumov]

Following this tragic accident I am now more grateful than enraged whenever my flight gets delayed due to weather, even the most inconvenient of timings.

[softshell]

I haven't really processed any of this until hearing "helicopter missed clearance by 25-30 feet" my heart is on the floor....

[Queenisis]

I really pray for his family and friends that have to hear the exact details Over and Over and Over....

[kylein]

I see alot of YouTube pilots coming out the woodwork here.

[arbaz]

I was waiting for this video.I knew you guys will make one on it.

[joshuaallen]

over and over with the fog being too bad....how did the fog cause him to turn away from the 101 he was following and why would he turn away with no response the controller telling him he is too low? he obviously heard the message of being too low, because his action was to immediately go higher, but gave no reponse, when he responded every other time...i imagine more than fog involved.

[juicyjayplays]

I cant imagine how his wife is feeling she deserves love and attention it didnt need to end this way rest in peace kobe bryant and remember to always to follow your dreams you will never be forgotten

[jeroenjansen]

The amount of hours flown is not an absolute indicator of a pilot's skills.

[ytfeverguy]

Vfr into imc. Don't do it. Low cloud ceiling, rising terrain, an escape maneuver, disorientation all speculated at the final moment of impact in the hills. Prayers