A preliminary report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed Friday that the debris at the crash site - which killed Kobe Bryant, the Legend of Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA, his daughter and seven other people last month - showed no evidence of an engine failure.
Moreover, wife Vanessa confirmed what was revealed by the US media in the last hours of the memorial service for Bryant's memorial service, which will be on February 24 this year, a date for "Celebrating Life", referring to his shirt number 24 and the shirt of his late daughter 2.
Bryant, 41, who crowned the NBA five times in his 20 years with a Lakers shirt, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, were among nine people who died when the helicopter crashed in rough terrain west of Los Angeles on January 26.
The report stated, "All the important components of the helicopter were located inside the wreckage area. The examination of the main rotor assembly and the tail rotor showed damage consistent with the damage caused by the collision (to the ground) in the operating condition."
"The parts that can be seen in the two engines showed no evidence of a catastrophic or incapable internal failure," he said, speaking of the pattern of damage found on the blades, saying this was normal in the event of a collision and the engine was running.
Friday's report was a summary of the investigators' results so far, and it is expected that the final report that determines the cause of the accident will take at least a year.
Investigators of the National Transportation Safety Board and other investigative bodies are looking for the role that thick fog can play during that day in the accident.
"Our investigators have so far collected a great deal of evidence about the circumstances of this tragic accident," Council President Robert Sammault said in a statement. Such accidents again. "
| The site of the accident (Reuters) |
Baseball coach John Tupelli, 56, died with his wife Kerry and their daughter Alisa, Gianna's teammate, and helicopter pilot Ara Zubayan, 50, and Sarah Chester, 45, with her daughter Payton, who plays on the same team as Bryant's daughter, and the coach Basketball Christina Mauser.
The Sikorsky S76B helicopter crashed in Calabasas, in Los Angeles, in the southern state of California, around 10 am local time, on the 26th of last month, as thick fog surrounded the city.
According to the information reported by the American newspapers, the flight data indicated difficulties that occurred when the plane flew over the Los Angeles Zoo when the pilot was informed that he was flying at low altitude.
A few minutes later, the plane appears to have crashed into a hill about 520 meters from the ground before it caught fire. The plane had no black box, as it was not required for this type of aircraft.