On January 26, 2020, American Basketball legend Kobe Bryant perished in a devastating helicopter crash alongside his 13-year-old Gianna and seven others. Now, more details have been revealed about the helicopter that the group was travelling in.
Federal investigators have now said that the twin engines of the helicopter showed no evidence of a "catastrophic internal failure." The findings say that there is no evidence of mechanical failure towards contributing to the crash of the copter. An update said, “viewable sections of the engines showed no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic internal failure."
"An experienced but nevertheless single pilot in bad weather is a bad formula for the safe operation of a helicopter," Robert Clifford, a Chicago-based aviation disaster lawyer said.
Media reports cite that Kobe was a frequent copter traveller, using it to beat the LA traffic. Rob Pelinka, the manager of Los Angeles Lakers, with whom Bryant had a 20-year-old association, said that Kobe once played a prank on him using the copter.
Bryant had the pilot do military manoeuvres on the chopper with Pelinka on board, and even turn the engine off in mid-air, cites a report in the New York Post.
“My life was flashing before my eyes. I almost had a heart attack. Kobe’s just sitting there calm and collected,” Pelinka was quoted as saying.
