Heavy fog may have disoriented pilot in Kobe Bryant helicopter crash

Personnel collect debris while working with investigators at the helicopter crash site of NBA star Kobe Bryant in Calabasas, California, U.S., January 28, 2020. Photo: Reuters.

The pilot of a helicopter that crashed outside Los Angeles in January, killing basketball great Kobe Bryant, his daughter and all seven others on board, likely became disoriented in the fog, federal investigators said on Wednesday.

Pilot Ara Zobayan told air traffic controllers that his chopper was climbing out of heavy clouds when in fact it was descending immediately before slamming into a hillside near the town of Calabasas, the National Transportation Safety Board wrote in newly released findings.