CALABASAS, Calif. (CNN WIRE) — In his final transmission, the pilot of a helicopter that crashed, killing nine people including NBA legend Kobe Bryant, told air traffic control he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer, the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday.
When air traffic control asked the pilot what he planned to do, there was no reply, NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy told reporters. The last radar contact was around 9:45 a.m. (12:45 p.m. ET) Sunday, she said.
Radar data indicated the helicopter climbed 2,300 feet and began a left descending turn, she said.
The NTSB, which is investigating the cause of the crash, detailed the helicopter’s final moments before it crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California, under foggy conditions. Visibility was so low Sunday morning that the Los Angeles Police Department grounded its helicopters, department spokesman Josh Rubenstein said.
The crash impact broke the helicopter into pieces, creating a debris field stretching about 500 to 600 feet, according to Homendy.
“There is (an) impact area on one of the hills and a piece of the tail is down the hill, on the left side of the hill,” she said. “The fuselage is over on the other side of that hill, and then the main rotor is about 100 yards beyond that.”
When asked about any chance for survival, Homendy said: “It was a pretty devastating accident scene.”
Bryant, 41, and the other passengers were headed to Thousand Oaks for a basketball game, where Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was expected to play and Bryant was expected to coach. Gianna and two teammates were among the victims.
The pilot’s final transmission
Homendy said initial information indicates the helicopter was flying under visual flight rules from John Wayne Airport, in Orange County, to just southeast of Burbank Airport.
Around Burbank, the pilot requested to fly under special visual flight rules, Homendy said. An SVFR clearance allows a pilot to fly in weather conditions worse than those allowed for regular visual flight rules (VFR).
Pilots can request SVFR clearance before takeoff or during the flight, especially if conditions suddenly change, CNN transportation analyst Peter Goelz said.
While SVFR clearance is “pretty normal,” he said, “it’s not something that’s often recommended.”
If granted SVFR clearance, the pilot will typically keep tighter communication with air traffic control.
During the pilot’s conversation with air traffic control, they advised the pilot there was a delay due to traffic, Homendy said.
She said the helicopter circled for 12 minutes until air traffic control approved the special visual flight rules.
Homendy said the helicopter flew in the Burbank and Van Nuys airspace at 1,400 feet, heading south and then west.
The pilot requested flight following, which is radar assistance for a flight that helps the pilot avoid traffic, to continue to Camarillo, she said, But air traffic control said the helicopter was too low to provide flight following assistance, she said.
About four minutes later, the pilot said he was climbing to avoid the cloud layer, she said.
Homendy said the crash created a crater at 1,085 feet above sea level.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said there has been a lot of interest from the public trying to get to the crash site. An emergency ordinance was issued, making it a misdemeanor to unlawfully access the site, the sheriff said.
Deputies are patrolling the rugged terrain on horseback, Villanueva said. The terrain is so difficult to access that authorities bulldozed the road to get a car to the location.
John Altobelli, 56, was aboard the aircraft with his daughter Alyssa Altobelli and wife Keri Altobelli. Photo obtained by KETK 
AP photos of pilot Ara Zobayan, who was at the controls of the helicopter that crashed in Southern California, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 and Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna 
FILE – In this July 26, 2018 file photo former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna watch the U.S. national championships swimming meet in Irvine, Calif. Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. Gianna also died in the crash. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, file) 
Students walk beside a giant mural of former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna at a basketball court in Taguig, south of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Artists in this tenement building gathered and painted this image after learning of Bryant’s death. Bryant, his daughter and 7 others died in a helicopter crash. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) 
Fans gather outside Staples Center after news of Kobe Bryant’s death (KTLA) 
FILE – In this April 13, 2016 file photo Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, right, fist-bumps his daughter Gianna after the last NBA basketball game of his career, against the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles. Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. Gianna also died in the crash. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file) 
FILE – In this July 26, 2018 file photo former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna watch during the U.S. national championships swimming meet in Irvine, Calif. Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. Gianna also died in the crash. She was 13. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) 
LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 21: Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant laughs with the championship trophy while riding in the victory parade for the the NBA basketball champion team on June 21, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 87-79 in 7 games for the franchise’s 16 NBA title. (Photo by Noel Vasquez/Getty Images) 
FILE – In this May 4, 2002, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, left, and Shaquille O’Neal celebrate after winning Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs, in Los Angeles. Bryant downplayed talk of a reignited feud with Shaquille O’Neal, saying there is “nothing new” that has been said recently between the former teammates. Bryant had recently said that if O’Neal had worked harder, they could have won 12 rings together with the Los Angeles Lakers. O’Neal fired back on social media that they could have won more if Bryant had passed him the ball more often. But Bryant said Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, during a visit to the U.S. Open tennis tournament that the comments don’t mean they are fighting again. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) 
Philadelphia 76ers stand during a tribute to Kobe Bryant, before the team’s NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, in Philadelphia. Bryant died along with his daughter and seven other people during helicopter crash Sunday. (Steven M. Falk/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) 
Associate coach Nate Johnson, left, embraces his wife Jonai during a ceremony held for John Altobelli, the late head coach of Orange Coast College baseball, who died in a helicopter crash alongside former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant in Costa Mesa, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. His wife Keri and youngest daughter Alyssa were also victims of the crash. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo) 
This image taken from video on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, and provided by the National Transportation Safety Board, shows part of the wreckage of a helicopter crash near Calabasas, Calif. The Sunday, Jan. 26 crash killed former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others. (James Anderson/National Transportation Safety Board via AP) 
In this image taken Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, and provided by the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB investigators Adam Huray, right, and Carol Hogan examine wreckage as part of the NTSB’s investigation of a helicopter crash near Calabasas, Calif. The Sunday, Jan. 26 crash killed former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others (James Anderson/National Transportation Safety Board via AP)
NBA postpones Lakers game after crash
A day after the crash, the National Basketball Association said Tuesday night’s Los Angeles Lakers game versus the Los Angeles Clippers would be postponed. The decision “was made out of respect for the Lakers organization,” which is mourning the deaths of the nine victims, the league said.
The game was scheduled to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be rescheduled, the league said.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Monday a team of investigators recovered three bodies Sunday night, before darkness and safety concerns suspended the search. It’s unclear which victims have been recovered.
Children and parents were on board
Bryant and Gianna were joined on the flight by Orange Coast College (OCC) baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and his daughter Alyssa, Altobelli’s brother told CNN.
Alyssa was Gianna’s teammate, OCC assistant coach Ron La Ruffa said. And Altobelli would routinely travel with his daughter for her basketball games.
OCC President Angelica Suarez said she was devastated by the loss of “a member of our OCC family.”
“Coach Altobelli was a giant on our campus — a beloved teacher, coach, colleague and friend,” Suarez said in a statement. “This is a tremendous loss for our campus community.”
Another parent, Christina Mauser, was also killed in the crash. Mauser was an assistant girls basketball coach for a private school in Corona del Mar, California.
“My kids and I are devastated. We lost our beautiful wife and mom today in a helicopter crash,” her husband Matt Mauser wrote on Facebook.
Payton Chester and her mother Sarah Chester were also passengers on the helicopter and killed in the crash, Payton’s grandmother, Cathy Chester, wrote on Facebook.
She said they were on their way to the same basketball game.
The pilot of the helicopter was Ara Zobayan, according a former colleague at the Island Express helicopter company and a neighbor.
Kurt Deetz, a pilot who worked at Island Express with Zobayan, said he would trust Zobayan to fly him.
Zobayan’s neighbor, Robert Sapia, said Zobayan loved his job and would show him photos of the celebrities he would fly around, including Bryant.
Zobayan was an instrument-certified pilot who earned his commercial pilot’s license in 2007, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s pilot certification database.
He was also a certified flight instructor for instrument instruction for helicopter pilots, the records show. The database also shows Zobayan was up to date on FAA-required annual medical exams.
Homendy said Zobayan had a commercial certificate and was a certified flight instructor who had 8,200 hours of flight time as of July 2019, she said.
Sikorsky, the helicopter manufacturer, tweeted its condolences.
“We have been in contact with the NTSB and stand ready to provide assistance and support to the investigative authorities. … Safety is our top priority; if there are any actionable findings from the investigation, we will inform our S-76 customers.”
The helicopter was built in 1991 and was most recently registered to Island Express Holding Corp., according to the FAA.
In a statement, Island Express Helicopters, owner and operator of the helicopter, said it was “deeply saddened” by the crash.
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