Official Inquiry rules that Kobe Bryant’s helicopter pilot was disoriented in clouds during accident

Ara Zobayan, the helicopter pilot who crashed into a Southern California hillside last year -with the crash killing Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers- went against his training and violated flight rules by flying into thick clouds, U.S. safety officials said Tuesday during a hearing aimed at pinpointing probable causes of the crash. Zobayan likely became so disoriented that he could not discern up from down, investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board concluded.

The agency criticized Zobayan’s decision to fly into the clouds, saying he violated federal standards that required him to be able to see where he was going before the helicopter crashed during a roughly 40-minute flight. Zobayan was among the nine people killed, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.