Safety investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday that the pilot of a helicopter that crashed and killed Kobe Bryant and eight others last year flew through clouds in an apparent violation of federal standards and probably became disoriented.
NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said at a Feb. 9 hearing that the pilot, Ara Zobayan, flew the aircraft to climb sharply and had nearly broken through the clouds when the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter banked abruptly and plunged into the Southern California hills below, killing everyone on board, including Bryant and his thirteen-year-old daughter.
