Pilot in Kobe Bryant crash was disoriented in clouds: NTSB

Safety investigators say the pilot of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter flew through the clouds in an apparent violation of federal standards and likely became disoriented.

Pilot Ara Zobayan was flying under visual flight rules before the crash a year ago, according to National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt.

That means he needed to be able to see where he was going.

Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and six other passengers were flying to a youth basketball tournament in Ventura County on Jan. 26 2020, when the helicopter encountered thick fog in the San Fernando Valley.

Zobayan piloted the aircraft to climb sharply and had nearly broken through clouds when
the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter banked abruptly and plunged into the hills below, killing all aboard.

The helicopter did not have the so-called “black box” recording devices, which were not required.