Kobe Bryant: No engine failure in fatal helicopter crash, investigation finds

The NTSB report was released today

The National Transportation Safety Board said the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant the day of his crash showed no sign of engine failure prior to impact.

The NTSB released preliminary findings stating that on the day of the crash - 26 January - the helicopter’s engines appeared to be working. A tree branch at the site of the crash that had been cut by a helicopter blade is the investigator’s primary evidence that the engine had not stopped working.

The report stated that the pilot’s final transmission was to the Southern California Radar Approach Control to say he was attempting to climb to 4,000 feet to escape from a layer of dense clouds.

Shortly after the ascent, the helicopter plummeted, banked and crashed into a hillside.

Residents in the area near the crash site called in to 911 when they heard the sounds of the aircraft overhead.

One caller reported seeing a helicopter vanish from the sky.

'I just heard a helicopter go over me,' he said. 'It went over my head, it is thick in the clouds and then I heard a pop and it immediately stopped.'

NTSB investigators said the helicopter’s instrument panels were destroyed in the wreckage.

Radar data collected by NTSB investigators revealed that the helicopter only reached 2,300 feet before it made the turn that ultimately led to the impact. It was not equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system, which alerts pilots to potential impacts in low-visibility situations. The aircraft also lacked a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder.

The NTSB said it will release its final report sometime in the next 12 to 18 months. That report should include the probable cause for the crash and further elaborate on the investigators’ findings.

The same day the NTSB report was released, Mr Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, announced on Instagram that there would be a public memorial for her husband and daughter, Gianna, 13, who died in the crash. 

She said the ‘Celebration of Life’ would take place on 24 February at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Ms Bryant picked the date because her daughter’s basketball number was 2 and her husband’s was 24.