2020 Calabasas helicopter crash
Investigators examining debris at the crash site the day after the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 26, 2020, 9:45 AM PST |
| Summary | Flight into instrument meteorological conditions resulting in spatial disorientation and loss of control |
| Site | Calabasas, California, U.S. 34°8′12.7″N 118°41′32.3″W / 34.136861°N 118.692306°W |
| Aircraft | |
| N72EX, the helicopter involved in the accident, in November 2018 | |
| Aircraft type | Sikorsky S-76B |
| Operator | Island Express Holdings Inc. |
| Registration | N72EX |
| Flight origin | John Wayne Airport, Orange County, California |
| Destination | Camarillo Airport, Camarillo, California |
| Occupants | 9 |
| Passengers | 8 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Fatalities | 9 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On January 26, 2020, a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crashed in the city of Calabasas, California, around 30 mi (48 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, while en route from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport. All nine people on board were killed: retired professional basketball player Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna; baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri, and his daughter Alyssa; Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton; basketball coach Christina Mauser; and the pilot, Ara Zobayan.
The accident was then investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which concluded that it was caused by continued VFR into IMC: the helicopter entered low cloud cover, which caused the pilot to lose his sense of orientation, and thus lose control of the helicopter.