Looks like this is the real deal. I was never much of a Kobe guy but has to be one of the greatest to pass as such a young age. Sad stuff

Crazy stuff...rip.

Crazy

RIP

They kind of said it in passing on the ABC News special report, but they said his 4 daughters were with him.

It's so damn sad.

He had four kids, and there are five fatalities in the helicopter crash.

https://fox6now.com/2020/01/26/tmz-repo ... ter-crash/
This says he is survived by his wife and 4 daughters.

Rick Fox also rumored to be on board. Crazy

ABC has retracted the fact that his kids were on board and also read that Rick Fox daughter confirmed he was not aboard. Who knows...

This is such a huge note for sports. This will go down like roberto clemente, thurman munson,etc

I haven't given a rats ass about basketball since the Sonics left, but this is some messed up stuff. Kobe is one of the greatest to ever play. Only 41 and on top of the world. So sorry for his family... Just devastating. RIP Buddy....

TMZ now reporting his 13 year old daughter was aboard...

Top-10 all-time imo
RIP Kobe

Cyrus12 wrote:TMZ now reporting his 13 year old daughter was aboard...

I hope it's not all of them -- as the initial report said five died, and he has four daughters.

They also said the wife wasn't on board.

If she lost all four kids and husband, I don't know how you'd come back from that.

Shocking and sad. RIP.

They just reported that Kobe was on board w/his 13-yo plus another player.

It was confirmed his daughter was on board plus another parent and player from the basketball game they were flying to. As per espn pro bowl game...

Seanhawk wrote:They kind of said it in passing on the ABC News special report, but they said his 4 daughters were with him.

I heard 1 Daughter and that’s tragic enough.

OMG, if all 4 were.

RIP Kobe.

and a good example of why people should show some patience and not retweet/echo these reports until they get the real info.

Not waiting for the facts is up there with showing live pictures of a burning helicopter while two families are still waiting for information. Way to go, newscasters.

sutz wrote:RIP Kobe.

and a good example of why people should show some patience and not retweet/echo these reports until they get the real info.

ABC News reported it first. It wasn't some random Twitter "reporter".

Kobe was easily top 10 all time, but you can make arguments for him being top 5. He is the closest to MJ we will probably ever see in style of play. Probably one of the best competitors I’ve ever watched.

This is just crazy because of how big he is. I think if you had to make a list of the most impactful sports athletes of the last 25 years, it’s either him, MJ or LeBron. Not a surprise they are all NBA players, as they are the stars and the NBA is global.

Sports Illustrated has confirmed the death of Kobe and his daughter: https://www.si.com/nba/2020/01/26/kobe- ... les-lakers

Despite the Tweet above, I don't think the media was irresponsible in reporting this especially given how much of a public figure Kobe was. It came from TMZ first, but ABC confirmed it. So did the city of Calabasas.

ETA: Just heard per probowl announcers that "it was Russell Wilson who gathered everybody (at halftime), and said, guys, let's take the time to pray for Kobe Bryant's family."

It’s true. He, his oldest daughter, her teammate and a parent and the pilot are all gone.

Kobe and his wife just had another baby last June who sadly will never know her father.

Life is short. Make sure the people you love know they are loved. [emoji26]

This is what everybody was talking about.

sutz wrote:RIP Kobe.

and a good example of why people should show some patience and not retweet/echo these reports until they get the real info.

There was a report on tweeter that Lebron was on board too....so there ya go.

The post about getting something out first without facts is true, they need to return to the pre Reagan law about not releasing till verified and collaborated, yeah bloggers would be pissed but the victims and people affected by these stories already going to suffer are dragged through more unnecessary suffering and pain because someone listening to a scanner has a quick twitch finger.

Very Sorry to hear the news back on topic, early on in his career he was a pleasure to watch, have not watched much if any NBA basketball since Stern, Schultz and Bennett sold out and took the Sonics from Seattle.

Well wishes to his family.

KitsapGuy wrote:

This is what everybody was talking about.

That report was from ABC News, and it came over the Pro Bowl broadcast on ESPN as well. It was qualified as not a definite.

Journalistically, the same mistake would have been made in 1984.

With all disasters and untimely deaths of famous people (or people thrust into the limelight), rumors and inaccurate info happen. However, it can be days or weeks before authorities might release info without this pressure.

SantaClaraHawk wrote:

KitsapGuy wrote:

This is what everybody was talking about.

That report was from ABC News, and it came over the Pro Bowl broadcast on ESPN as well. It was qualified as not a definite.

Journalistically, the same mistake would have been made in 1984.

With all disasters and untimely deaths of famous people (or people thrust into the limelight), rumors and inaccurate info happen. However, it can be days or weeks before authorities might release info without this pressure.

They did it before but that was called actually Journalism, you developed sources and had people in positions to have conferences and media specialists that just were not spin artists.

Jeesus...the sheriff dept just said 9 bodies on scene...hope I heard that wrong. As per espn live.

Chris, I worked in this field both academically and on the field in the 1980s and 1990s.

The way it would work then is this: A member newspaper of the AP/UPI or those bureaus themselves would run a "breaking news" story at which all the other papers would feel free to use it with an AP byline. Whether it was true or not.

AP is shredded now, so places are sourcing from whoever says so (in this case TMZ followed by ABC News).

But the days when papers actually did their own journalism for everything? Prior to AP/UPI and most of our lifetimes.

chris98251 wrote:

SantaClaraHawk wrote:

KitsapGuy wrote:

This is what everybody was talking about.

That report was from ABC News, and it came over the Pro Bowl broadcast on ESPN as well. It was qualified as not a definite.

Journalistically, the same mistake would have been made in 1984.

With all disasters and untimely deaths of famous people (or people thrust into the limelight), rumors and inaccurate info happen. However, it can be days or weeks before authorities might release info without this pressure.

They did it before but that was called actually Journalism, you developed sources and had people in positions to have conferences and media specialists that just were not spin artists.

It's all about the clicks...sounds like TMZ basically announced it right after it happened. So likely the family found out about it on tv and turned on and saw a burning helicopter. In this day and age this how journalists or so called news agencies react.

Cyrus12 wrote:Jeesus...the sheriff dept just said 9 bodies on scene...hope I heard that wrong. As per espn live.

I just heard the same. Names are being withheld pending notification of kin. It’s just so damned sad.

Seahawks players react
https://www.fieldgulls.com/2020/1/26/21 ... les-lakers

uncle fester wrote:Not waiting for the facts is up there with showing live pictures of a burning helicopter while two families are still waiting for information. Way to go, newscasters.

That's the MSM only way these days

SantaClaraHawk wrote:Chris, I worked in this field both academically and on the field in the 1980s and 1990s.

The way it would work then is this: A member newspaper of the AP/UPI or those bureaus themselves would run a "breaking news" story at which all the other papers would feel free to use it with an AP byline. Whether it was true or not.

AP is shredded now, so places are sourcing from whoever says so (in this case TMZ followed by ABC News).

But the days when papers actually did their own journalism for everything? Prior to AP/UPI and most of our lifetimes.

Yes Newspapers have been decimated by the internet due to not having to really source any news and run off sensationalism, partial rumors, innuendos inaccurate assessments and or information with little validation.

Not better but great for politics and the station and supporters that have political leans who can leave out important information.

It's not surprising that media has went from 300 plus owners and companies to down to like 13 now and getting smaller, monopoly almost who can control what we see and hear. Factual or not. Split between the two political factions as well.

Remember news, you had the story, they could not induce a opinion just report the facts, then at the end you had editorial segments who would expand in opinions on an issue.

Now they mix and either leave out or include information, editorial aspects that suit the spin and politics of the ownership of the Media outlet.

No wonder people get so confused these days.

The Sheriff makes his point starting at 4:00

Tmz announced it before family knew. Gross.

Not surprising papers get it wrong..

RIP Kobe. Never was a Laker fan but loved his competitiveness.

RIP to all nine who died in that tragic crash..
It's sad that anyone no matter who they are had to go that way.

Since the Sonics left, I’ve adopted the Lakers as my team.

Kobe has been one of my favorite players, athletes, of all-time.

It’s definitely seems unreal to me, for him and his daughter to have died.

We don’t know who was all onboard yet but condolences and prayers go out to all on board that has fallen and their families.

An undeniable tragedy.

Gone too soon but will not be forgotten.

Rest In Peace, Kobe and Gianna.

Kobe forever!

The LA Times has turned off its paywall today for Kobe coverage.

A story plus the links can be found here:

https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... pilot-said

The more and more I am reading about this through various sources, the more it sounds like they shouldn't have been flying due to the weather conditions and maybe got a tad bit overconfident in the technology the Helo had.. Truly sad for everyone and their families that perished.

Yesterday will be one of those times I will always remember what I was doing and where I was when i heard the news.

2_0_6 wrote:The more and more I am reading about this through various sources, the more it sounds like they shouldn't have been flying due to the weather conditions and maybe got a tad bit overconfident in the technology the Helo had.. Truly sad for everyone and their families that perished.

Yesterday will be one of those times I will always remember what I was doing and where I was when i heard the news.

LAPD and LA Sheriffs had grounded their own helicopters in the area at the time due to fog per LATimes, ESPN and several others.

This kind of info needs to be made available to private pilots beforehand. This one was a highly regarded flight instructor, the only one that Kobe trusted enough to fly with. If that person had known that even first responders declined to fly in those conditions, maybe he might have followed suit.

Apparently the pilot was given clearance to fly. It's kind of sounding more and more like they flew into the hillside as opposed to a mechanical issue.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.co ... index.html

It was the Pilot's responsibility to check the weather and the forecast. If other pilots were not flying, he would have had access to that information through pilot reports.

They also said that he circled one area for 15 minutes, then continued on, all of a sudden climbing quickly before hitting a mountain at 1600 feet.

MHO, after being a pilot in Alaska for 20 years, he got caught in the weather, in uneven terrain, lost ground contact, and started climbing trying to get above the weather but hit the hillside at 150+ knots.

I've had that happen to me before, scud running when all of a sudden it goes right to the ground. You turn around, and it's closed in behind you. Your only choice is to climb out on top, which usually isn't very far on a foggy day in Northern Alaska. You bust out on top at a couple hundred or a thousand feet, the sun is shining, and off you go. Hoping that there's a hole through the clouds at your destination.

Thing is, most of my scud running was done in flat, or low terrain. 1200 feet ASL was the highest, and you could get on top of that fairly quickly.

I feel bad for them, the families, and the pilot's family. People always say "Pilot error." And maybe it was, but passengers will really push sometimes, having no idea how dangerous it is, and when you have a relationship with the passenger, you find yourself trying to make them happy.

But it's kind of like raising your kids, and as much as you want to make them happy, you've got to put your foot down, because this is your area of expertise, not their's.

The NTSB is really good at finding the cause of a crash. I used to read them all the time to find out what killed others, and try to avoid it. It was usually pretty simple, ego and weather. Got most of them.

Its been documented several times in the past, that this pilot had climbed to several thousand feet then shut off the engines to scare the passengers at the request of Kobe. The lure of money will make people do out of character things at times.

That's just crazy. I think maybe instead of shutting off the engine, he may have dumped the collective, letting the helicopter free fall.

The Sikorsky S-76B I believe it was, has turbine engines, and you don't just shut those off and restart them. That's dangerous as there are a lot of things that can go wrong on a restart, and helicopters don't glide real well with no engine. You can still auto-rotate, and land, if you're in level terrain and good weather conditions.

After reading an article just now, it sounds like the pilot got vertigo, which is very easy to do in weather. It's worse in helicopters because they are inherently unstable. That's why IFR helos have auto pilot.

"Bryant's helicopter left Santa Ana in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, shortly after 9 a.m. and circled for a time just east of Interstate 5, near Glendale. Air traffic controllers noted poor visibility around Burbank, just to the north, and Van Nuys, to the northwest.

After holding up the helicopter for other aircraft, they cleared the Sikorsky S-76 to proceed north along Interstate 5 through Burbank before turning west to follow U.S Route 101, the Ventura Highway.

Shortly after 9:40 a.m., the helicopter turned again, toward the southeast, and climbed to more than 2000 feet. It then descended and crashed into the hillside at about 1400 feet, according to data from Flightradar24.

When it struck the ground, the helicopter was flying at about 160 knots (184 mph) and descending at a rate of more than 4000 feet per minute, the data showed."

https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2020/0 ... -choppers/

4000 feet per minute descent is extreme! That's a helicopter that is out of control.