Sad news, Kobe Bryant Dies in Helicopter Crash

[willie]

The helicopter ambulance service that I mentioned was offered to law enforcement and correctional employees. Investigation revealed that the company also selected other professional groups and offered them the same deal. I perceived that it was all too slick. Few here are old enough to remember that long era when funeral homes provided ambulance service. They were the first responders. To use a cliche, I will say that dead folks at a wreck scene were low hanging fruit. Today, in some rural areas lacking a central morgue and a contracted service for removing the dead, the families' choice of funeral home will retrieve the dead from wrecks and other scenes of tragedy.

Death care is big business. When I visit a funeral home to pay respect to the departed, employees look at me and say there goes $10,000.

[Trukinjp13]

Tragic deaths for all involved. Definitely will hit a lot of people around the world. The Mamba was one of the greatest to play the game and the BEST player since Jordan. I do not give a shit about Lebron and his stats. When it came to winning the big games and big moments Kobe was far ahead.

If you have nothing good to say about the freshly departed, maybe just keep it to yourself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RevolverRob]

I'm impressed we managed to make it almost 18 hours...

[TiroFijo]

Newby question...

How safe are helicopter rides compared to small planes, and to major airlines?

[blues]

Newby question...

How safe are helicopter rides compared to small planes, and to major airlines?

I don't know the stats. Obviously catastrophic incidents don't happen every day. When I worked in the air wing with many former U.S. Marines helicopter pilots...the "too many moving parts" comment came up a lot under a variety of circumstances relating to various situations and potential for failure.

That said...I loved flying in our Blackhawks on narcotics patrol between South FL and the Bahamas...or when they were ferrying our SRT.

My only other experience in helicopters was some touring in Hawaii.

[RevolverRob]

Newby question...

How safe are helicopter rides compared to small planes, and to major airlines?

According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board - Helicopters are moderately safer than fixed wing aircraft with between 0.4 and 1.4 accidents per 100,000 flight hours for helicopters and 1.0-2.5 accidents per 100,000 flight hours for fixed wing aircraft - Stats are for between 2008 and 2017.

Major air carriers are safer by comparison - with a nearly flat rate of 0.15 accidents per 100,000 flight hours.

In 2017 - there were 16 fatalities (in 8 fatal crashes) due to aircraft accidents, all of them with private/commuter aircraft. There were zero fatal accidents with air carriers.

Data from: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/...Stats2017.aspx

Bear in mind that these are results of civilian aircraft, military aircraft are not included in NTSB statistics.

[60Driver]

No idea what happened, but flying single pilot in instrument and marginal conditions is high workload, and especially so in a helicopter.

Quoted for truth.

Familiar with that area and ceiling apparently was 1300 and dropping with fog. LEO rotary wing was not flying based on weather. As a trained Safety investigation dude I was taught not to speculate, but based on flight track, weather and terrain my going in thought would be CFIT (Contolled Flight into Terrain). Ceiling forcing him down, terrain rising and Dog $#!@ vis.

[HCM]

Quoted for truth.

Familiar with that area and ceiling apparently was 1300 and dropping with fog. LEO rotary wing was not flying based on weather. As a trained Safety investigation dude I was taught not to speculate, but based on flight track, weather and terrain my going in thought would be CFIT (Contolled Flight into Terrain). Ceiling forcing him down, terrain rising and Dog $#!@ vis.

Which then begs the question why were they flying when others deemed it unsafe to do so ? I believe the answer is Bryant’s so called “celebrity” status ? I believe made the common mistake of confusing athletes and other entertainers for people of importance and made an extremely bad decision in an attempt to accommodate that false status.

[TC215]

Which then begs the question why were they flying when others deemed it unsafe to do so ? I believe the answer is Bryant’s so called “celebrity” status ? I believe made the common mistake of confusing athletes and other entertainers for people of importance and made an extremely bad decision in an attempt to accommodate that false status.

We call it “get-there-itis” in the aviation world.

https://www.aopa.org/training-and-sa...get-there-itis

[RevolverRob]

Which then begs the question why were they flying when others deemed it unsafe to do so ? I believe the answer is Bryant’s so called “celebrity” status ? I believe made the common mistake of confusing athletes and other entertainers for people of importance and made an extremely bad decision in an attempt to accommodate that false status.

I think that is a strawman argument. Until the NTSB makes a ruling, it is premature to state why the helicopter was flying to begin with, but you're in effect arguing that the helicopter company that owned and operated this helicopter knew better. But did they?

The company in question was involved in another fatal helicopter crash in southern California in 2008 - while it appears that the conditions were more favorable - it brings into question a number of issues with the company overall. A private charter company that has two fatal accidents in a 12-year period should be viewed as suspect - https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.a...08MA136&akey=1