The helicopter Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were flying in on Sunday dropped more than 2,000 feet per minute before smashing into a California mountain, killing all nine people on board, officials said Tuesday.
The Sikorsky S-76B chopper lost contact with air-traffic control when it was traveling about 2,300 feet about the ground over the mountains in Calabasas, an NTSB official said at a press conference.
It then started a “steep descent,” dropping at more than 2,000 feet per minute, authorities said.
“We know this was a high-energy-impact crash. The helicopter was in a descending left bank,” the NTSB official said.
It’s not clear if the pilot would have been able to control the helicopter while it was dropping at that rate of speed — but the chopper did not appear to break apart before crashing into the mountain, the NTSB said. All of the pieces of the helicopter were found near the seen of the crash, indicating it was intact when it hit the terrain.
The helicopter crashed in a fiery wreck around 9:45 a.m. Sunday, flying through dense fog and at too low an altitude to receive guidance from the ground, witnesses and officials have said.
Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash
Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people were killed in the crash.
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