The legendary basketball star Kobe Bryant, who spent 20 years with the Lakers, tragically passed away on Sunday morning at just 41 in a helicopter that burst into flames in the hills above Calabasas. The speculated reason for the helicopter crash according to reports is said to be “foggy conditions.”
Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant, who accompanied him, also passed away in the crash among nine other people.
A reporter revealed, “Kobe Bryant was on his way to a travel basketball game with his daughter Gianna when the helicopter crashed. Those aboard the helicopter also included another player and parent.”
The other passengers who lost their lives in the same crashw were John Altobelli, baseball coach at Orange Coast College, his wife, Keri, and their daughter Alyssa, according to a news portal.
The chopper was a Sikorsky S-76B built in 1991. According to reports, the helicopter that Bryant and other passengers were traveling in, departed the John Wayne Airport at 9:06 a.m. Sunday. It is said to have passed over Boyle Heights, near Dodger Stadium, and circled over Glendale during the flight.
The crash occurred near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street in Calabasas a little before 10 a.m. According to County Fire Chief Daryl Osby, a 911 call was made to the authorities at 9:47 a.m. after which firefighters arrived to find that the crash had ignited a quarter-acre wildfire in steep terrain,. “Responders included 56 fire personnel — firefighters, a helicopter with paramedics, hand crews — and sheriff’s deputies” a news portal revealed.
“Our firefighters hiked into the accident site with their medical equipment and hose lines to extinguish the stubborn fire as it included the brush fire … and the helicopter,” Osby revealed in a news conference in the afternoon of the same day. He further revealed, “The fire also included magnesium, which is very hard for firefighters to extinguish because magnesium reacts with oxygen and water.”
Since the helicopter crashed in rough terrain, the authorities of Los Angeles County revealed that it could take several days to recover bodies of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the other passengers from the crash site, a news portal reported.
A interview from 2018 is being shared all over social media where Kobe’s praising his daughters. When asked if his daughter is interested in playing in the WNBA, he said, “She does, for sure. This kid man.” He added, “I’m telling you. The best thing that happens is when we go out and fans come up to me, and she’ll be standing next to me. And they’ll be like, ‘You gotta have a boy. You and V gotta have a boy man, have somebody to carry on your tradition and the legacy.’ And she’s like, ‘Oi, I got this. You don’t need no boy for that. I got this.” And I’m like, ‘That’s right. Yes you do. You got this.’’
Our thoughts are with the Bryant family and the families of the other victims of the crash at this time.