Kobe Bryant Crash Investigation: What The 911 Calls Tell Us

Newly published 911 calls that were placed after Kobe Bryant’s helicopter collided into a Calabasas, California hillside have revealed just how poor weather conditions were at the time of the accident.

The Los Angeles Fire Department released some of the phone messages from members of the public after several onlookers witnessed the aircraft crash last month.

In one call, someone tells the operator that the chopper “went over [their] head” before adding:

“It’s thick in clouds. And then I heard a pop and it immediately stopped.”

Terrifying.

A separate caller told the operator that he saw the aftermath of the aircraft crashing into a mountain, explaining:

“I’m walking in the trail I could hear the plane, I think it was, in the clouds, but couldn’t see it. Then we just heard a ‘boom’ and a dead sound and then I could see the flames.”

Meanwhile, another caller declared:

“If this guy doesn’t have night vision, I mean, he was, he’s completely IFR.”

After conducting an investigation that involved combing through the wreckage, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the weather was partially to blame for the accident that took the lives of the NBA legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others.

At a press conference last week, the government agency asked members of the public to send in photographs of the area right before the crash so officials could get an accurate vision of what conditions were like at the time.

Apparently, the pilot simply did not see the hillside after it was reported the aircraft smashed into it at over 150 mph — and this was seemingly confirmed by the multiple callers telling 911 dispatchers just how foggy the skies were at the time of the accident.

However, many details are still unclear. The aircraft didn’t have a black box recorder onboard, which makes it harder for officials to pinpoint the precise issues at the moment before impact. Moreover, the NTBS noted that the chopper was not equipped with a terrain alarm system that potentially could have warned the pilot he was approaching a hillside.

This all comes as Kobe and Gigi’s bodies were released to the family for preparation for their final resting place. The LA Corner’s office has ruled the cause of death as blunt force trauma.

[Image via NTSB/WENN]