The pilot in the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed retired NBA star Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others was "legally prohibited" from flying into clouds but did so anyway, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board's chairman said on Tuesday.
Pilot Ara Zobayan told air traffic controllers that his helicopter was climbing out of heavy clouds when in fact it was descending immediately before slamming into a hillside near the town of Calabasas, the agency said in June. Zobayan's actions have been in focus in the investigation into the crash of the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter outside Los Angeles into hilly terrain.