Kobe Bryant Crash Victims: Cause, Verdicts, and Reforms

The Kobe Bryant helicopter crash killed nine people on January 26, 2020, when a Sikorsky S-76B flying through fog struck a hillside in Calabasas, California. On board with the retired NBA star were his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, six others traveling to a youth basketball tournament at the Mamba Sports Academy, and the pilot. Federal investigators later blamed the pilot’s decision to press on into clouds, and the crash produced years of litigation against the helicopter operator, the pilot’s estate, and Los Angeles County over first responders who shared photos of the victims’ remains.

Who Was on Board

The passengers were bound together by youth basketball. Three of the girls played on the same AAU team at the Mamba Academy, and the adults were parents and coaches. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner certified the cause of death for all nine as blunt trauma and the manner as accidental.¹

Kobe Bryant, 41, five-time NBA champion and Basketball Hall of Famer.
Gianna Bryant, 13, his daughter and a Mamba Academy player.
John Altobelli, 56, head baseball coach at Orange Coast College for 27 years.²
Keri Altobelli, John’s wife.
Alyssa Altobelli, 14, their daughter and Gianna’s teammate.³
Christina Mauser, an assistant coach at the Mamba Academy whom Kobe nicknamed “The Mother of Defense.”⁴
Sarah Chester, 45, mother of Payton.
Payton Chester, 13, another of Gianna’s teammates.
Ara Zobayan, the pilot and chief pilot of Island Express Helicopters, with roughly 8,577 flight hours.⁵

What Caused the Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report in February 2021 and concluded that the probable cause was pilot Ara Zobayan’s decision to keep flying under visual flight rules after entering clouds. He became spatially disoriented and lost control.⁶ His final radio call reported climbing to 4,000 feet. The aircraft was actually descending at roughly 4,000 feet per minute.⁵

Zobayan was flying at about 160 miles per hour into deteriorating weather. The NTSB called that speed “excessive” and “inconsistent with the pilot’s adverse weather training.”⁷ He did not engage autopilot while trying to climb through the cloud layer and did not divert to a nearby airport.⁸

The board identified two contributing factors: Zobayan’s likely self-induced pressure to complete a flight for a high-profile client, and “plan continuation bias,” a tendency to press forward with an original plan despite mounting reasons to change it. Investigators also cited Island Express Helicopters for inadequate oversight of its safety management processes.⁶ Mechanical failure was ruled out. The helicopter was in sound condition, and Zobayan was not impaired by drugs, alcohol, or fatigue.⁷

Zobayan held an instrument rating, but his actual instrument experience was thin. Of his roughly 8,500 total hours, only 75 were instrument time, and 68 of those were in simulated conditions. His last documented instrument training was in May 2019, and the NTSB said it could not determine whether he was instrument-proficient on the day of the crash.⁵

Wrongful Death Lawsuits

In February 2020, Vanessa Bryant sued the estate of Ara Zobayan and Island Express Helicopters in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging wrongful death and negligence. She later added OC Helicopters, an agency that had arranged flights for the family. The Altobelli, Chester, and Mauser families filed similar suits.⁹ The complaints alleged that Zobayan flew negligently in fog, failed to obtain proper weather data, and failed to abort the flight, and that Island Express failed to train and supervise him.¹⁰

Zobayan’s estate, represented by his brother Berge Zobayan, responded that the passengers had “knowingly and voluntarily” accepted the risks of the flight.¹¹ Island Express denied responsibility and called the crash “an act of God.” The company filed a cross-complaint against two FAA air traffic controllers, Kyle Larsen and Matthew Conley, saying their errors contributed.¹²

On June 22, 2021, Vanessa Bryant and the families of the other victims filed a notice of settlement in federal court in Los Angeles, ending their claims against the pilot’s estate and Island Express. The terms were confidential.¹³

The Crash-Site Photos and the LA County Verdicts

Within hours of the crash, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and firefighters at the scene took close-up photographs of the victims’ remains and shared them with people who had no investigative reason to see them. The images circulated at a bar, during a video game session, and at a fire department awards cocktail hour.¹⁴ Sheriff Alex Villanueva confirmed in March 2020 that eight deputies had been involved.¹⁵

Discipline varied between the two departments. Fire Captain Tony Imbrenda was fired after displaying photos at an awards gala. Fire Captain Brian Jordan, who took the photos, was set to be terminated but retired first. On the sheriff’s side, Deputies Raul Versales and Rafael Mejia were found by Internal Affairs to have violated multiple policies but received no discipline and later served as training officers. Deputy Joey Cruz, who shared photos with a bartender and his niece, faced a proposed ten-day suspension and ended up with a two-day suspension without pay and three paid days of training after appealing.¹⁶

Vanessa Bryant and Chris Chester, whose wife Sarah and daughter Payton died in the crash, sued Los Angeles County in federal court, alleging that the unauthorized sharing violated their constitutional privacy rights and caused severe emotional distress. The case went to trial in August 2022. On August 25, 2022, the jury found the sheriff’s and fire departments liable and awarded Vanessa Bryant $16 million and Chris Chester $15 million. The jury also found that the sheriff’s department had a longstanding custom of deputies taking unauthorized death-scene photos.¹⁴

Chester settled his remaining claims with the county in September 2022 for an additional $4.95 million, bringing his total to $19.95 million and resolving future claims by his children.¹⁷ Vanessa Bryant reached a broader settlement on February 28, 2023, for a total of $28.85 million, which included the jury’s award and resolved pending state claims and future claims by daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.¹⁸ Her attorney, Luis Li, called the settlement “the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct.”¹⁹

What Changed in Law and Safety

The photo-sharing scandal moved California to change its law. In September 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2655, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gipson. The statute makes it a misdemeanor for first responders to capture or share photos of deceased persons at an accident or crime scene for any purpose other than official law enforcement duties or a genuine public interest, with fines of up to $1,000 per offense. Known informally as the Kobe Bryant Act of 2020, it took effect January 1, 2021.²⁰

Aviation safety changes have moved more slowly. The NTSB recommended that the FAA require simulation-based training for Part 135 helicopter pilots focused on adverse weather, decision-making, and spatial disorientation recovery, and that Island Express install flight data recording devices across its fleet and join a voluntary safety management program.⁶ Representative Brad Sherman introduced the Kobe and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act, which would mandate terrain awareness warning systems and crash-proof flight data recorders on turbine helicopters carrying six or more passengers. The NTSB had recommended similar equipment after a 2004 Sikorsky S-76 crash in the Gulf of Mexico, but the FAA extended terrain awareness mandates only to helicopter air ambulances in 2014. Industry groups have opposed broader rules, citing costs of upward of $35,000 per helicopter. As of the most recent reporting, the Sherman bill had not been enacted.²¹

1
Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. Reports on Calabasas Helicopter Crash
2
ABC News. Kobe Bryant Crash Coach, Wife, Daughter Honored at Memorial
3
NBC Los Angeles. Victims of Calabasas Helicopter Crash
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CBS News. Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Victims Identified
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AOPA. NTSB Faults Pilot’s Decisions in Bryant Crash
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NTSB. Aircraft Accident Report AAR2101
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NBC Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Cause Finalized
8
BJT Online. Kobe Bryant’s Pilot Disregarded Training
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ESPN. Where Investigation, Lawsuits Stemming From Kobe Bryant Crash Stand Today
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Variety. Vanessa Bryant Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit
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New York Daily News. Brother of Pilot in Kobe Bryant Crash Blames Passengers
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ABC7 New York. Kobe Bryant Crash Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settlement
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ESPN. Vanessa Bryant, Families of Other Crash Victims Agree to Settle Lawsuit
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CNN. Vanessa Bryant, LA County Crash Photos Trial
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CBS News Los Angeles. Two LA County Firefighters May Be Fired for Sharing Crash Photos
16
ABC7. Kobe Bryant Crash Photos Trial Testimony
17
Los Angeles Times. LA County to Pay Extra $4.95 Million Over Kobe Bryant Crash Photos
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ABC News. Vanessa Bryant Settles Claims With LA County for $28.85 Million
19
New York Times. Vanessa Bryant Settles Kobe Helicopter Crash Lawsuit
20
The Guardian. California Bans Photos of Dead at Crime Scenes
21
Los Angeles Times. Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Recommended Improvements Not Implemented