Was Kobe Bryant’s pilot feeling pressure to fly that day? (regular, death)

[T-310]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

Special VFR had nothing to do with it as he was operating after he was out of the Special VFR clearance prior to, and up to the crash.

However radar had him descending at 4000 fpm prior to impact which could indicate spatial disorientation.

[Pilot1]

Originally Posted by T-310

However radar had him descending at 4000 fpm prior to impact which could indicate spatial disorientation.

I didn't say anything about spatial disorientation. That certainly may have occurred, but he was not operating under a Special VFR clearance at the time.

[prospectheightsresident]

That's a good question, and one that I've asked myself in the aftermath of the crash. While the pilot was trained to fly in fog, you don't fly in fog (and apparently the fog was really, really bad) unless you absolutely have to. He didn't have to fly in fog that day, which makes me wonder if he was pressured to do so.

Moving on to the last part of the OP, its a fair point. Bryant was credibly accused of rape, admitted that he can see how his victim believed she was raped, and the forensic evidence supports the victim's claims. I've long called Bryant a rapist for that 2003 night, much to the chagrin of my friends who are fans. I stood by my comments then and I stand by them now.

Having written all of that, I don't wish death on anyone. So this was still a tragic accident that took the lives of numerous people with so much life ahead of them.

[Mr78609]

It makes me think about what happened to patsy Cline...She wanted to get home to her family asap and the pilot she knew very well said he could handle the bad weather,,,,we all know the rest

[RMESMH]

Earlier today their was a quote from Kawhi Leonard on the information ticker on one of the cable sports channels praising the pilot who perished. He had flown Kawhi around as well.

[SpeedThink]

Blame this tragedy on the pilot!

He has to be cognizant of the pending weather conditions and have the personal safety of the passengers foremost in his mind!

Families of the victims should consider legal damages...

[banjomike]

From what I've gathered, Kobe used that flight service and pilot a lot- regularly.
The pilot was very highly experienced, too. He was the pilot who flew Kobe most frequently of them all.

I think it was only a simple bad decision. The pilot had flown through L.A. fog many times before, and was looking at a down day, so he took the flight.
He had flown the route dozens- maybe hundreds- of times before hauling Bryant to the stadium throughout Kobe's career.

Spatial disorientation is likely the best answer. The pilot was watching his instruments, but undoubtedly, he was also landmarking, and the fog's thickness slowly forced him to fly lower so he could landmark. A gently rising slope couldn't be noticed until it was too late to pull up.

[desertdetroiter]

I don’t see the point. No one will ever know whether or not he felt pressured to fly. It’s useless to argue about it.

But that’s not what this thread is about anyway. It’s about the rape allegations against Kobe and the OP’s anger that he didn’t end up broke and in prison. If you can’t see that, you’re blind as a bat. The OP should’ve had the guts to make the thread about that topic and risk getting it closed instead of coming at the issue sideways.

That’s it. Carry on.

[ReineDeCoeur]

So obviously you feel the need to discuss the rape allegations. At the end of the day, that’s what they amounted to - allegations. Prosecutors dismissed the case as the woman refused to testify. This after the finding of another man’s semen in her underwear during the rape exam the next day. So the allegations remained just that.

[ClemVegas]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/ne...-fly-that-day/

Would not surprise me -- professional rotorcraft pilots don't make a lot of money as there's a lot of competition. And this guy had the experience to know that hills and special VFR don't mix too good.

And we've known since 2003 that Bryant didn't have a problem pressuring people into doing things that they didn't want to do.

Probably because of the 'Mamba mindset' Bryant had.