(Photo Credit: Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
May a true legend rest in peace
A helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers crashed into a hillside in Southern California on Sunday, killing everyone on board. The aircraft was climbing left turn about 2,400 feet high before it headed to the ground.
The influential basketball player, 41, won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Other victims included John Altobelli, the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College of 27 years in Costa Mesa, California; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa. Payton Chester, a 13-year-old basketball player, and her mother Sarah were also on board the helicopter. Another coach, Christina Mauser, was also killed.
According to ESPN, Kobe and his daughter were reportedly traveling to a basketball game when the helicopter crashed.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said that a call for a downed helicopter and brush fire in Calabasas went out at 9:47 a.m. Chief Osby shared that it was difficult to extinguish the fire because of the magnesium, a chemical that reacts with oxygen and water.
National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation on the crash of the Sikorsky S-76B. Aviation sources told local news that dense fog may have been a contributing factor.
Byrant often traveled by helicopter to his practices and games to avoid California’s traffic. Even after retirement, he continued this method of traveling.
By: Maytinee Kramer
