Vanessa Bryant Sues Helicopter Company

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Kobe Bryant's widow will bring to court the company that owns the helicopter that killed her husband, daughter Gianna and seven others when it crashed near Los Angeles last month.

According to TMZ, widow Vanessa Bryant's team of lawyers alleges that the Island Express Helicopters company was negligent and jeopardized the safety of the crew by allowing the pilot, Ara Zobayan, to take off in questionable weather conditions.

The lawsuit states that Island Express could only fly under visual flight rules and conditions on the day of the accident were not conducive to such a flight because the fog was extremely low and the pilot lacked visibility, according to TMZ.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the complaint filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court maintains that Bryant's death "was a direct result of" the pilot's negligent actions because he took off in foggy conditions that forced other colleagues to stay ashore.

The Bryant family believes that the pilot also failed to monitor and assess the meteorological conditions before take-off and during the flight, and that he was also allegedly going 180 miles per hour in dense fog, so he was unable to maintain control. of the helicopter and ended up crashing in the hills of Calabasas, CA, on January 26, according to TMZ.

The lawsuit also notes, still according to TMX, that the 50-year-old pilot was sanctioned five years ago by the Federal Aviation Administration (FFA) for violating the minimums of the visual flight rule when flying in space. low visibility aircraft.