Kobe Bryant, the NBA star player, his daughter Giana Bryant and seven other people lost their lives on Sunday in a helicopter crash. New reports suggest that the helicopter did not have a terrain alarm system to warn pilot that he was approaching a hillside.
These findings have come out after investigators are trying to find out as to what exactly caused the crash. The helicopter at the time of loss of communication with the air traffic controllers was at 2300 feet. The helicopter descended at a speed of 2000 feet per minute after that, thus, a high velocity impact was seen, and debris was spread over a larger area.
As per a lead investigator, even if the pilot was able to fly above the hill outcrop, other higher hills would have caused the crash on Sunday.
This accident is a typical case of controlled flight into terrain also known as CEE FIT, wherein absolutely airworthy aircraft under complete control of pilot is unintentionally flown into ground, mountain, water bodies or any obstacle. In Bryant’s case, it was the mountain.
In a CEE FIT, the pilot is unaware of the impending disaster until it is too late, and it is so late that an evasive action is impossible, and a crash is inevitable. The helicopter was going from south to north, and the terrain was uneven and mountainous.
There were foggy conditions and low clouds in the area. All these helicopters in general are supposed to have ground in contact all the time, which is called the VFR (Visual Flight Route). The pilot in this case had asked for an SVFR, which is a (Special Visual Flight Route) where weather conditions are even worse than VFR.
The pilot had asked for a radar assistance, but because of the type of terrain, and lower levels, it makes it difficult for radar surveillance and providing guidance at these levels gets difficult. Thus, his request was not completed and he went off the radar soon. New machines these days are fitted with avionics, which prompt the pilot whenever they are reaching close to an obstacle. However, this helicopter was not equipped with anything like that.
Weather in that area anyway was foggy and cloud sealing was there which means little gaps persisted between clouds at 1100 feet, which is lower than what he was flying at.
Image Credit: LATimes