About four minutes later, “the pilot advised they were climbing to avoid a cloud layer,” she said. “When ATC asked what the pilot planned to do, there was no reply. Radar data indicates the helicopter climbed to 2,300 feet and then began a left descending turn. Radar contact was lost around 9:45 a.m.
She also said that there was no black box on the Sikorsky S-76.
Homendy says the debris field is about 500-600 feet. “There’s no black box,” she says but says they recovered an iPad they believe the pilot was using for flight tracking.
— Charlie Gile (@CharlieGileNBC) January 28, 2020
The pilot was identified as Ara Zobayan, whom she described as an experienced pilot.
She asked the public to email any weather-related photos to witness@ntsb.gov that were taken Sunday morning near the crash site to assist in the investigation.
Coroner’s officials continue to recover victims’ remains Monday from the hillside outside Los Angeles where a helicopter carrying Bryant and eight others crashed in a wreck that aviation experts said may have been caused by the pilot becoming disoriented in the fog.
The helicopter went down in Calabasas, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday.
Among other things, investigators are looking at the pilot’s history, the chopper’s maintenance history and the records of its owner and operator, NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Sunday.
“The S-76 is a pretty expensive, sophisticated helicopter. ... It’s certainly a quality helicopter,” said Justin Green, an aviation attorney in New York who flew helicopters in the Marine Corps.
Green believes weather may have contributed to the crash. Pilots can become disoriented in bad weather, losing track of which direction is up. Green said a pilot flying an S-76 would be instrument-rated, meaning they could fly the helicopter without relying on visual cues from outside.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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