The Sikorsky S-76B was in a rapidly descending left turn when the pilot told air traffic control that he planned to climb to 4,000 ft above mean sea level (MSL); within seconds, the helicopter struck the ground, killing the pilot and his eight passengers, including basketball star Kobe Bryant.
The helicopter was destroyed in the Jan. 26, 2020, crash in Calabasas, California, U.S., and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in its final report that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot’s “decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control.”
The NTSB cited as contributing factors the pilot’s “likely self-induced pressure and the pilot’s plan continuation bias, which adversely affected his decision-making, and Island Express Helicopters Inc.’s [the operator’s] inadequate review and oversight of its safety ma…
