Kobe Bryant Pilot Special Permission to Fly Being Analyzed by NTSB

When the pilot flew into the Burbank and Van Nuys airspace at 1,400 feet, he requested radar assistance to avoid traffic, Homendy said. But air traffic control said the helicopter was too low to be able to get that assistance.

Zobayan said he was going to climb higher, and air traffic controllers responded. But they never heard back. Radar data indicated the helicopter climbed 2,300 feet and began a left descending turn, Homendy said.

The last radar contact was around 9:45 a.m. Sunday. The helicopter crashed two minutes later.

Homendy said investigators will look into whether Zobayan should have been granted SVFR clearance.

Zobayan was experienced and had 8,200 hours of flight time as of July 2019, Homendy said.

He had been working with Island Express Helicopters, which owned and operated the Sikorsky S-76B.

“We are working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the cause of the accident and we are grateful to the first responders and local authorities,” Island Express said in a written statement.

NTSB investigators are looking at pilot records, weather information, ATC communications and the wreckage as part of the investigation.

The chopper is reliable, safe and capable, aviation analyst Miles O’Brien told CNN.

“It’s a workhorse,” O’Brien said. “It’s the flying Lincoln Town Car for executives. This is what corporate helicopter aviation is built on — on this Sikorsky.”

The impact of the crash broke the helicopter into pieces, creating a debris field of about 500 to 600 feet, Homendy said. The crash created a crater at about 1,085 feet above sea level, she said.

“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.”“

Investigators initially struggled to access the site of the wreckage due to the difficult terrain, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. Eventually, authorities bulldozed the road to get to the location.

Complicating their access, mourners flooded the area to get a glimpse of the scene.

An emergency ordinance was issued, making it a misdemeanor to unlawfully access the site, Villanueva said Monday. Deputies are patrolling the rugged terrain on horseback, he said.

Alyssa Altobelli, who was Gianna’s teammate, was on the helicopter with her father, Orange Coast College (OCC) baseball coach John Altobelli and her mother, Keri Altobelli.

Her father would routinely travel with her to attend her games, OCC assistant coach Ron La Ruffa said.

Payton Chester and her mother Sarah Chester were also killed in the crash, Payton’s grandmother Cathy Chester wrote on Facebook.

“While the world mourns the loss of a dynamic athlete and humanitarian, I mourn the loss of two people just as important … their impact was just as meaningful, their loss will be just as keenly felt, and our hearts are just as broken,” Todd Schmidt, a former principal at the elementary school Payton once attended, wrote in a Facebook post.

Christina Mauser, an assistant girls basketball coach for a private school in Corona del Mar, California, was also killed in the crash.

“My kids and I are devastated,” her husband, Matt Mauser, wrote on Facebook. “We lost our beautiful wife and mom.”