Kobe Bryant’s Helicopter Pilot Dismissed Weather Concerns Before Crash, According To Documents

June 18, 2020 by Chelsea Adjalla in Sports with 0 Comments

Kobe Brant, Ara Zobayan

Kobe Bryant’s Helicopter Pilot Dismissed Weather Concerns Before Crash, According To Documents

According to documents made public by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Kobe Bryant’s pilot Ara Zobayan was told the night before the fateful crash that there may be weather issues that could impact the flight.

Kobe Bryant

Reportedly, the broker that arranged Kobe Bryant’s helicopter flight told the pilot that there could be weather issues, however Ara Zobayan in a text to the broker assured the broker and the drivers that the weather conditions

“should be ok”.

The texts were made public by the NTSB today (June 17).

An hour and a half after the text from Ara Zobayan, he along with the NBA legend and 7 other people on board the helicopter were killed when the helicopter crashed into a foggy hillside in Calabasas, California.

The texts along with 1,700 other pages are among the items found by federal regulators and were released to the public. The documents have not drawn a conclusion about the cause of the crash and probably will have a conclusion in the final report.

Vanessa, Natalia and Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant’s wife Vanessa recently made headlines along with their eldest daughter Natalia, 17.

In a recent post on Instagram, Vanessa Bryant announced the decision to block specific accounts to help her move forward with healing from her loss. In the short post on her IG story, Vanessa expresses her gratitude and appreciation to the growing Kobe and Gianna, affectionately nicknamed Gigi fan pages on the social media site. However, the 38-year-old mother of Kobe’s surviving three daughters explains the purpose behind her and daughter Natalia’s decision to block the fan pages from their accounts. She writes:

“Thx so much for all the [heart emoji] @Nataliabryant and I have unfortunately had to block fan pages because it’s been really hard to go online and constantly see pics of our beloved Gigi and Kobe under every single square of our explore page. Blocking the fan pages has helped change the algorithm. We [insert heart emoji] you all but please understand that we had to do this for our own healing not because we don’t appreciate your . xo.”

Vanessa Bryant is in the middle of a wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter company that chartered Kobe and Gigi’s final flight. Vanessa Bryant, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of the pilot (Ara Zobayan) and the helicopter company that her husband and daughter were flying with that day. The suit reportedly accuses both the pilot and the helicopter company of alleged negligence that contributed to the fatal crash.

Vanessa is also seeking substantial compensation from her suit as well. According to court documents, Vanessa’s lawyers said in court filings

“As a result of Kobe Bryant’s and [Gianna Bryant’s] deaths, Vanessa Bryant seeks economic damages, non-economic damages, prejudgment interest, punitive damages, and other relief as the Court deems just and proper.”

The document also states

“Although the total specific amount of personal injury damages the plaintiff seeks is TBD, Kobe Bryant’s future lost earnings equal hundreds of millions of dollars.”