Los Angeles, US
Nine people were killed
in the helicopter crash that claimed the life of NBA star Kobe Bryant and his
13-year-old daughter, Los Angeles officials confirmed on Sunday.
Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters and coroner staff check the wreckage at the scene of a helicopter crash in Calabasas on January 26, 2020. |
Los
Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said eight passengers and the pilot of
the aircraft died in the accident.
"There
were no survivors ... There were nine people on board the aircraft, the pilot
plus eight individuals," Villanueva said.
The
helicopter crashed in foggy weather in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas.
Authorities said firefighters received a call at 9.47 am about the crash, which
caused a brush fire on a hillside.
The
Los Angeles Police Department air support division grounded its helicopters
until the fog lifted in the afternoon due to the weather conditions.
"The
weather situation did not meet our minimum standards for flying," said
police spokesman Josh Rubenstein.
Los
Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said firefighters had to hike to the site
with medical equipment and hose lines to extinguish the blaze.
Los
Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti confirmed that Bryant's daughter Gianna was among
the victims.
"L.A.
is grieving with the Bryant family over the loss of Gianna, who perished with
her father and friends in today's tragedy," Garcetti wrote on Twitter.
Gianna
was one of Bryant's four children with his wife Vanessa.
The
retired NBA star, 41, and Gianna were flying to a game his daughter was
expected to play in when their helicopter crashed, according to US reports.
Local
media said the other victims included another player and a parent.
Orange
Coast College confirmed that its baseball coach, John Altobelli, 56, was also
on board the helicopter.
CNN
said Altobelli's wife, Keri, and one of their two daughters, Alyssa, were
aboard the chopper as well.
Villanueva
told reporters the authorities would not identify the victims pending
notification of family members and identification from the coroner's office.
"It
would be extremely disrespectful to understand your loved one has perished and
you learn about it from TMZ," Villanueva said, referring to the celebrity
news website that first broke the news about the crash.
"That
is just wholly inappropriate, so we are not going to be going there. We are
going to wait until the coroner does their job."
The
National Transportation Safety Board said it was dispatching an 18-person team
to California to help with the investigation into the crash.
"Our
team will be looking at the history of the pilot and whatever crew was on
board," said Jennifer Homendy, a member of the NTSB.
"We
will be looking at maintenance records of the helicopter. We will be looking at
records of the owner and operator of the helicopter and a number of other
things."
She
added that the helicopter was a Sikorsky S-76B that has a black box which
investigators will seek to recover.
According
to data from flightradar24.com, a flight tracking site, the chopper took off
from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana at 9.06 am.
It
headed northwest, reportedly to Mamba Sports Academy in Newbury Park, about 85
miles (137 kilometers) away.
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