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| Personnel collect debris while working with investigators at the helicopter crash site of NBA star Kobe Bryant in Calabasas, California |
The wreckage from the helicopter that crashed last month and killed Kobe Bryant and eight others didnโt display any evidence of engine failure, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released Friday.
The NTSB is investigating whether heavy fog played in a role in the Jan. 26 crash, in which Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and the others were killed when the helicopter slammed into a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., located about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
The NTSBโs final report isnโt expected to be released for at least a year.
According to the NTSB, the instrument panel was destroyed in the crash and the flight controls were broken and suffered fire damage.
The pilot, Ara Zobayan, was flying the helicopter by sight and not instruments, according to the report. Pilot error is one of the things the NTSB is studying as a possible cause.
The main wreckage was found about 127 feet away from the impact crater, according to the report. Investigators said the wreckage was scattered over a 600-foot area.
The NTSB said the helicopter wasnโt equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system, which informs pilots if they are headed toward a hill or a mountain if hindered by clouds.
Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakersโ star, frequently used helicopters to get from his Orange County home to other parts of the Los Angeles area.
On this occasion, he was making the approximate 90-mile trek to a youth basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks at his Mamba Sports Academy. Gianna Bryant and two other girls who died in the helicopter crash โ Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester โ were players on a team coached by Bryant. Assistant coach Christina Mauser also died in the crash.
Others who perished were Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife, Keri, as well as Sarah Chester, in addition to the pilot.
REUTERS
