Kobe Bryant Discussion, Part Two

th1 · Post #261 » by **th1** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:47 am

Very sad and hard to believe. Sitting and thinking how much has he achieved. It's even hard for me to understand how a human being can do so much. And how little i have done in 33 years of my life.

GaiusVelleius · Post #262 » by **GaiusVelleius** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:48 am

To me the weather can't be the reason. As we heard the helicopter lost altitude quickly and hit the ground with enormous speed (160 mph). If fog was the reason, it would simply have hit a mountain without dropping beforehand.

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Baarignani · Post #263 » by **Baarignani** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:50 am

Tomhomes33 wrote:The weather conditions (fog) were so bad that LAPD air support was grounded. If so, who gave the green light for the chopper to fly??Was it pilot’s opinon? I will not believe any of the passengers pressed for it with kids on the board. I would really like some answers, because if the weather got that bad that fast and after they took of and they couldn’t land (they were circling 15min above LA Zoo) then at least no human error was direct cause..

It was a special VFR flight which means they were the only aircraft allowed in that airspace. unfortunately in helicopters, there is no minimum flight visibility requirement, or a requirement for an IFR-equipped aircraft or an IFR-rated pilot in command. Therefore the pilot is allowed to make the decision to fly in bad conditions.

The reason they circled around for 15 mins was to wait for other aircraft to leave the airspace. After that they followed the freeways until the visibility got even worse and the pilot lost his way. Air traffic control couldn't help since he flew too low for the radar to see its location.

Watch on YouTube

karkinos · Post #264 » by **karkinos** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:52 am

GaiusVelleius wrote:To me the weather can't be the reason. As we heard the helicopter lost altitude quickly and hit the ground with enormous speed (160 mph). If fog was the reason, it would simply have hit a mountain without dropping beforehand.

Sent from my GT-I8200N using RealGM mobile app

weather alone should have stopped them from being in the air in the first place.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Josh Rubenstein said the department's Air Support Division grounded its helicopters Sunday morning due to foggy conditions and didn't fly until later in the afternoon.

"The weather situation did not meet our minimum standards for flying," Rubenstein said, adding that the fog "was enough that we were not flying."

LAPD's flight minimums are 2 miles of visibility and an 800-foot cloud ceiling, he said. The department typically flies two helicopters when conditions allow, one in the San Fernando Valley and one in the L.A. basin, he said.

The LAPD Air Support Division is the largest municipal airborne law enforcement organization in the United States, according to the department.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28572984/helicopter-carrying-kobe-bryant-made-climbing-turn-rapid-dive

Trey24 · Post #265 » by **Trey24** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:58 am

I hate that everyone is going to automatically blame the pilot. Not sure if he has a family, but if he does, it will put an unbelievable amount of guilt and grief on a family who has just lost a loved one. Please wait until all info comes out. And even IF it ends up being pilot error, there is nothing that can be done about it now. I love Kobe to death and have not slept or stopped breaking down since hearing the news, but celebrate his life, don't search for reasons to hate over his death.

Repeat 3-peat · Post #266 » by **Repeat 3-peat** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:10 pm

Read on Twitter

Repeat 3-peat · Post #267 » by **Repeat 3-peat** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:15 pm

mtron929 wrote:What's sad is that I keep on imagining what would have gone inside the helicopter. I think Kobe with the way that he was wired, probably did not give up believing til the very end and would have provided encouragement to everyone in there.

I keep having the same thought. I'm sure he did what most great fathers would do, try to protect his kid anyway he could.

Trey24 · Post #268 » by **Trey24** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:20 pm

Repeat 3-peat wrote:

Read on Twitter

Saw this earlier and this **** hit real hard.

fourones1x · Post #269 » by **fourones1x** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:29 pm

*posted this on the Raptors team board but thought I'd share my thoughts.

its crazy how much the tragic passing of Kobe and his lovely Gigi is affecting me. the least invested i have ever felt in a basketball game and the most empty win.

i was playing on my ps4 and i occasionally look at my phone when notifications hit, but seeing the news from Thescore app had me shook.

although i was hoping the NBA would cancel the games to honor Kobe, a huge shoutout goes out to the players and coaches for being able to still go out there and perform.
amazing as well to see them all run out the shot clock and pay homage to Kobe.

to see greats in all the other sports be affected by this just shows how great Kobe was.
and to hear everyone's Kobe stories is an illustration of the incredible impact someone had on all of our lives.

Kobe was my Jordan.

this one hurts.

Barnzy · Post #270 » by **Barnzy** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:31 pm

Sadly it sounds like big human error on the pilots part as the cause. Flying in those horrible conditions in which he would have the final say. Which makes it even worse.

But the impending investigation will give us more details.

Baarignani · Post #271 » by **Baarignani** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:36 pm

Repeat 3-peat wrote:
mtron929 wrote:What's sad is that I keep on imagining what would have gone inside the helicopter. I think Kobe with the way that he was wired, probably did not give up believing til the very end and would have provided encouragement to everyone in there.

I keep having the same thought. I'm sure he did what most great fathers would do, try to protect his kid anyway he could.

Given that even the pilot didn't declare an emergency or anything, it's unlikely anyone on board had any awareness of the situation.

CIB24 · Post #272 » by **CIB24** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:38 pm

I understand that they were flying low for visibility and the pilot was not necessarily relying on instrumentation to determine where he was. The radar shows they rose almost 1000 feet in the final few seconds of the flight suggesting the pilot recognised they were about to hit the mountain and tried to pull up as hard as he could. They hit the hillside at over 160 knots (185mph). Due to the fog I don't think anyone but the pilot knew what was happening until the final few seconds of the flight. Given the impact at such a high velocity I believe everyone aboard died instantly, and were not alive while the aircraft and surrounding bush was burning.

Terrible and to think common sense by the pilot (i.e. not to fly) could have saved their lives.

PT416 · Post #273 » by **PT416** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:44 pm

Can't sleep man. Shock felt a lot better than whatever this is. Loss is a tough thing. Life is scary. But precious. Hope you all have a good week. Mamba mentality on.

whysoserious · Post #274 » by **whysoserious** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:49 pm

It's the next day and this still doesn't feel real. Prayers for all those involved in the crash and for all of their families.

Balllin · Post #275 » by **Balllin** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:55 pm

an icon, transcending basketball.

Watch on YouTube

Drou · Post #276 » by **Drou** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:01 pm

Balllin wrote:an icon, transcending basketball.

Watch on YouTube

This is horrible, not the image I want Kobe to be associated with.

Tomhomes33 · Post #277 » by **Tomhomes33** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:01 pm

GaiusVelleius wrote:To me the weather can't be the reason. As we heard the helicopter lost altitude quickly and hit the ground with enormous speed (160 mph). If fog was the reason, it would simply have hit a mountain without dropping beforehand.

Sent from my GT-I8200N using RealGM mobile app

Bit it rapidly climbed before steep dive...to me pilot saw the hills last minute and tried to avoid crash rising the chopper but then they hit something and as a result dived straight to the ground.

Bolivar · Post #278 » by **Bolivar** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:06 pm

Baarignani wrote:
It was a special VFR flight which means they were the only aircraft allowed in that airspace. unfortunately in helicopters, there is no minimum flight visibility requirement, or a requirement for an IFR-equipped aircraft or an IFR-rated pilot in command. Therefore the pilot is allowed to make the decision to fly in bad conditions.

The reason they circled around for 15 mins was to wait for other aircraft to leave the airspace. After that they followed the freeways until the visibility got even worse and the pilot lost his way. Air traffic control couldn't help since he flew too low for the radar to see its location.

Watch on YouTube

This video gives a pretty good idea what happened. I don't know about aviation, but there's a number (altitude?) next to the helicopter that stays steady at 014 until it goes from 014 to 021 in the last three seconds as the pilot does a panic move to raise altitude, and crashes to hill/mountain.

Knicks7Tape · Post #279 » by **Knicks7Tape** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:12 pm

https://theathletic.com/1563301/2020/01/26/remembering-gigi-bryant-2006-2020/?source=freedailyemail

TheWhiteMamba · Post #280 » by **TheWhiteMamba** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:18 pm

Just to let you know that I don't joke when I say that Kobe's love is huge in Italy, Italian basketball Federation (fip) decided to arrange a minute of silence, in every field and every basketball game in italy in this week. In honor of Kobe, his daughter and other victims of this insane tragedy.