Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, has published the names of LA County police officerswho she said shared graphic photos of the scene of her husband’s death in a helicopter crash last year.
The 38-year-old is suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for negligence and invasion of privacy.
“We will refrain from trying this case in the media,” the sheriff said in response.
Kobe Bryant died with his daughter and seven others in the crash.
On March 17, Vanessa Bryant posted on Instagram the names of four sheriff’s deputies.
She says they took graphic pictures of the nine people who died in the crash close to Calabasas, California, in January 2020.
She alleges that one of the officers shared with a bartender photos of Kobe Bryant’s body and the others distributed “gratuitous photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches”.
The Los Angeles Times reported in February 2020 that an internal police investigation found officers shared photos of victims’ remains.
Vanessa Bryant claims the pictures, including those of her 13-year-old daughter Gianna, were taken and shared “for no reason other than morbid gossip”.
Last week a judge rejected an attempt to stop publication of the officer’s names, allowing Vanessa Bryant to disclose them.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva responded on Twitter to Vanessa Bryant’s post, saying that the department would wait for a court to decide the outcome of the case.
The widow of Kobe Bryant alleges that at least eight officers took pictures of the crash site for their personal use, and claims that one took between 25 and 100 photos.
Last month, safety investigators said the helicopter pilot, Ara Zobayan, may have become disoriented in fog before the aircraft smashed into a hillside.
The NTSFB said the main cause of the crash was most likely the pilot’s decision to keep flying in inclement conditions “which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control”.
As well as Kobe Bryant, his daughter and the pilot, those killed included two of Gianna’s basketball teammates, their relatives and a coach. The group were on their way to a tournament in Thousand Oaks where Kobe Bryant had been set to coach.
Ara Zobayan, the pilot of the helicopter which crashed killing Kobe Bryant, his young daughter, and seven other people had probably become disorientated amid fog, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators have said.
The helicopter smashed into a hillside near Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020.
Ara Zobayan was among the dead.
Investigators also said the pilot may have felt “self-induced pressure” to complete the flight for Kobe Bryant.
The NTSB has been investigating the circumstances around the crash, and met on February 9 to vote on the probable cause. It is an independent federal agency with no enforcement powers.
In its official finding, the NTSB said the main cause of the crash was most likely the pilot’s decision to keep flying in inclement conditions, “which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control”.
During the flight, Ara Zobayan told air traffic controllers the helicopter was climbing out of heavy cloud when it was actually descending.
“This maneuver is consistent with the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation in limited visibility conditions,” said NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt.
“We are talking about spatial disorientation where literally the pilot may not know which way is up or down, whether he or she is leaning left or right.”
The NTSB added that “inadequate review and oversight” of safety management processes by the helicopter charter company, Island Express, may have also contributed to the crash.
However, the board did not find that the Sikorsky S-76B had experienced any mechanical problems. The helicopter was not required to have “black box” recorders, which capture flight data and voices in the cockpit, and was not carrying any.
Ara Zobayan violated federal rules and went against his own flight training by flying into thick clouds, safety officials said.
The pilot “was flying under visual flight orders or VFR which legally prohibited him from penetrating the clouds”, but he did so anyway, said Robert Sumwalt.
Investigators also criticized the pilot for banking the helicopter to the left, instead of bringing the aircraft straight up while trying to escape the bad weather.
Ara Zobayan was an experienced pilot who had often flown for Kobe Bryant. The widely respected pilot had logged more than 1,200 hours in the Sikorsky-76 helicopter.
Disorientation can set in when pilots can’t see the sky or landscape, making it harder to judge an aircraft’s altitude and acceleration.
Investigators also said that the close relationship between Kobe Bryant and Ara Zobayan may have compelled the pilot to fly even in unsafe conditions.
In text messages on the eve of the crash released by the NTSB, Ara Zobayan wrote that the forecast seemed to be “not the best”. The next morning, the pilot wrote that the conditions were “looking ok”.
At the time of the crash, retired NBA legend Kobe Bryant, 41, was travelling to a youth basketball tournament with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, two of her teammates, and several other friends.
The fatal crash prompted a global outpouring of support for Kobe Bryant’s family – as well as a number of lawsuits.
Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, sued Ara Zobayan and the companies that owned and operated the helicopter for alleged negligence and wrongful death. Families of the other victims sued the helicopter companies – but not the pilot.
In September, Vanessa Bryant sued the LA County Sheriff’s Department after officers shared unauthorized photos of the crash site. California now has a state law prohibiting first responders from taking unauthorized pictures of people who died at the scene of an accident or crime.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has
said eight deputies have admitted possessing photos of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter
crash site.
The sheriff said he was “devastated and heartbroken” by the
conduct of those responsible.
He told media on March 2 that the deputies involved had deleted the images
on his direction.
Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine who died in
the crash on January 26.
The basketball legend was a
five-time NBA champion for his only team, the Los Angeles Lakers, and a double
Olympic gold medalist. After a 20-year career with the team Kobe Bryant retired
in April 2016.
The circulation of photos from the crash site and victims’ remains was first
reported by the Los Angeles Times
last week.
In response to the report, Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s wife, said she was
“absolutely devastated” by the “inexcusable and deplorable”
actions of first responders.
A lawyer for Vanessa Bryant said Alex Villanueva had assured her that
“all measures would be put in place to protect the families’
privacy”.
The lawyer’s statement said: “This
is an unspeakable violation of human decency, respect, and of the privacy
rights of the victims and their families.
“We are demanding that those
responsible for these alleged actions face the harshest possible discipline,
and that their identities be brought to light, to ensure that the photos are
not further disseminated.”
In an interview with NBC News, Sheriff Villanueva said the photos were
brought to his attention by someone who had overheard a trainee deputy
discussing them at a bar.
He said: “That was my number one
priority, to make sure those photos no longer exist.
“We identified the deputies
involved, they came to the station on their own and had admitted they had taken
them and they had deleted them. And we’re content that those involved did
that.”
He also told KABC-TV that the deputies were under investigation and could
face disciplinary action.
Only personnel from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the
coroner’s office were authorized to take photos of the crash scene, Alex
Villanueva said.
According to NBC News, at least two LA County Fire Department firefighters
also took photos and were ordered to delete them.
The cause of the crash in foggy
weather west of Los Angeles, California, is still being investigated.
Kobe Bryant was on his way to coach
his daughter Gianna’s basketball team in a local youth tournament at the Mamba
Sports Academy.
Lawyers for Vanessa Bryant have filed a lawsuit against the company that operated the helicopter, accusing the pilot of negligence.
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, has made her first comments since the helicopter crash that killed her husband, one of their daughters and seven others on January 26.
In a post on Instagram with a family photo, Vanessa Bryant said she was “completely devastated” and that there were not “enough words to describe our pain”.
Kobe and Vanessa had four daughters including Gianna, 13, who died in the crash.
There has been no word yet on funeral arrangements.
The cause of the crash in foggy weather west of Los Angeles is still being
investigated.
Kobe Bryant, 41, was on his way to coach his daughter’s basketball team in a
local youth tournament at the Mamba Sports Academy.
In the Instagram post, Vanessa Bryant also said: “We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring
husband, Kobe – the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet
Gianna – a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to
Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.”
The devastated wife added: “I
wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken
from us too soon. I’m not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it’s
impossible to imagine life without them.”
Vanessa Bryant also thanked for the public support, and announced the formation
of a fund to help support the other families that were affected by the crash,
the Mamba Sports Foundation.
The other victims included the pilot, two other 13-year-old girls involved
in the tournament, three of their parents and another coach.
Kobe Bryant was a five-time NBA champion for his only team,
the Los Angeles Lakers, and a double Olympic gold medalist.
After a 20-year career with the team Kobe Bryant retired in April 2016.
The identities of the other victims
have not yet been released.
In a statement, the City of
Calabasas said it was “with great sadness that we learn of the death of
Kobe Bryant and four others in a helicopter crash”.
The statement added: “The aircraft went down in a remote
field off Las Virgenes around 10:00 this morning. Nobody on the ground was
hurt.”
Gavin Masak, who lives nearby, told
CBS News of the moment the helicopter crashed.
He said: “It wasn’t exactly like an explosion sound but it was like a loud
boom. It sounded like a helicopter, but it sounded like a jet, like it was
loud, so I went inside and told my dad what was happening. So when I came out I
saw smoke on the hill but it wasn’t like a big, black cloud of smoke, it was
just grey.”
Other eyewitnesses told celebrity
news site TMZ they heard the
helicopter’s engine sputtering before it went down.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department
shared pictures from the scene of the accident, showing a fire truck and smoke
emerging from the hills.
The FAA identified the crashed
helicopter as a Sikorsky S-76. It said it was investigating the accident
alongside the NTSB.
Officials are set to give further
details at a press conference at 2PM, local time.
Kobe Bryant played his entire
20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He retired in April 2016.
His achievements include being the
2008 NBA Most Valuable Player and two-time NBA Finals MVP.
Kobe Bryant was also two-time NBA scoring champion and a two-time Olympic champion.
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