The heartbreaking 911 calls from the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others have been released. The Los Angeles County Fire dispatchers shared audio from multiple calls placed by witnesses who heard the crash and saw the flames.
“I could hear this plane, as if it was in the clouds but couldn’t see it, then we just heard a boom and a dead sound, and I could see the flames,” one person said in audio published by KTLA. He had been hiking on a nearby trailer when he heard the crash, but he assumed it was from “a small plane.”
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Another caller was at the grocery store about a quarter mile away. They said, “A helicopter crashed into a mountain, we heard it, and now I’m looking at the flames. We’re looking at the flames right now on the hills.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
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A third caller explained, “I just heard a helicopter go over me, approximately from Lost Hills Road on a south to easterly sweep. It went over my head, it’s thick in clouds, and then I heard a pop, and it immediately stopped… I can’t see it. That part of the mountain is… in clouds.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
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The helicopter was flying through cloudy conditions in Calabasas, California when it crashed.
According to the flight tower audio, the pilot
Ara Zobayan was in contact with several airports as he tried to navigate the fog and ultimately land. Instead, he accidentally flew into a hill.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
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Kobe, 41, Gianna and seven others perished in the crash. They were en route to a youth basketball game at Kobe’s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, California.
Photo credit: MEGA
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That night, many celebrities paid tribute to Kobe at the Grammy Awards.
Alicia Keys and
Boys II Men honored him during the opening of the show, and artists including
Lizzo,
Lil Nas X,
Aerosmith and
Run DMC also mentioned the basketball legend during their performances.
Photo credit: ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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The Los Angeles Lakers honored Kobe and Gianna
during an extensive pre-game ceremony on Friday, January 31. It was the first game for the team since the accident. Kobe spent his entire professional career as a Laker.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
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Lebron James said during the ceremony, “Tonight we celebrate the kid that came here at 18, retired at 38 and became probably the best dad we've seen over the last three years. Tonight is a celebration.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Another caller was at the grocery store about a quarter mile away. They said, “A helicopter crashed into a mountain, we heard it, and now I’m looking at the flames. We’re looking at the flames right now on the hills.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
A third caller explained, “I just heard a helicopter go over me, approximately from Lost Hills Road on a south to easterly sweep. It went over my head, it’s thick in clouds, and then I heard a pop, and it immediately stopped… I can’t see it. That part of the mountain is… in clouds.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
The helicopter was flying through cloudy conditions in Calabasas, California when it crashed.
According to the flight tower audio, the pilot
Ara Zobayan was in contact with several airports as he tried to navigate the fog and ultimately land. Instead, he accidentally flew into a hill.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Kobe, 41, Gianna and seven others perished in the crash. They were en route to a youth basketball game at Kobe’s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, California.
That night, many celebrities paid tribute to Kobe at the Grammy Awards.
Alicia Keys and
Boys II Men honored him during the opening of the show, and artists including
Lizzo,
Lil Nas X,
Aerosmith and
Run DMC also mentioned the basketball legend during their performances.
Photo credit: ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The Los Angeles Lakers honored Kobe and Gianna
during an extensive pre-game ceremony on Friday, January 31. It was the first game for the team since the accident. Kobe spent his entire professional career as a Laker.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Lebron James said during the ceremony, “Tonight we celebrate the kid that came here at 18, retired at 38 and became probably the best dad we've seen over the last three years. Tonight is a celebration.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages