By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
As the world mourns the death of nine people in Calabasas helicopter clash including the NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, the investigation is ongoing and new information will be coming out for days.
The official cause of the crash has not been determined yet but what is know is that the helicopter was operating under the “special visual flight rules,” according to an air traffic control conversation with the pilot, captured by website LiveATC.net, as CNN reports.
An SVFR clearance allows a pilot to fly in weather conditions worse than those allowed for standard visual flight rules (VFR).
Later in the flight, the pilot apparently asked for “flight following,” a service in which controllers are in regular contact with an aircraft.
It’s unclear if the weather played a role in the crash but low clouds and fog were present in the area at the time of the helicopter crash. It’s also important to note that the Sunday morning visibility was so poor that both the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office and Police Department grounded their choppers.
The official investigation has had a hard time establishing the facts and recovering the bodies due to the harsh terrain and the condition of the site.
You can see the image of the flight’s route below thanks to the flightradar24.com‘s data:
Photo Credit: flightradar24.com