The National Transportation Safety Board reveals that Ara Zobayan, who was among those killed in the hillside crash, had been warned about the weather conditions hours before take-off.
- June 18, 2020
AceShowbiz - Officials investigating the helicopter crash, which claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, have revealed the pilot was warned about the weather conditions hours before take-off.
Ara Zobayan assured an unnamed booker the weather "should be OK" in one of several text messages made public on Wednesday, June 17 by the National Transportation Safety Board.
A little later, he lost control of the chopper in fog and crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California.
Zobayan, Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and six other people on board the helicopter were killed.
The text message exchanges are among the findings released by federal regulators.
Kobe's widow is demanding millions in her wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter company and the estate of the pilot.
Vanessa Bryant filed suit in February, blaming Zobayan for the accident, maintaining it was too foggy for him to fly.
She has since made a claim against the pilot and Island Express bosses, insisting she is entitled to hundreds of millions in future lost earnings as a result of her husband's sudden death.
According to papers she filed in early May, Island Express' Federal Aviation Administration operating certificate did not allow pilots to fly during conditions like those on the day of the crash. The pilot had already allegedly been cited by the FAA for violating this rule in the past.
