There are important conversations about sexual assault and race in America to be had concerning Kobe Bryant and what now is a legacy. I will wait until there is another, non reaction thread to discuss those.
I really only liked basketball when Kobe Bryant played. I’m one of those Laker fans who is really a Kobe fan first, but I don’t really bring that up around here. I’m emotional and incredibly sad, and as with all of my tremendous admiration for Kobe Bryant, part of me feels bad for that based on what he did in Eagle, CO in 2004.. I fucking loved him as a competitor and athlete and was genuinely inspired by the second act he seemed to be creating for his life. I was more impressed by his Oscar than by his titles and that video of him and Gianna taking basketball at a Lakers game made me cry this morning.
it’s all a WAG at this point, we don’t know shit yet.
tell your friend to fuck off for me. His speculation doesn’t help. I say that as a military helicopter pilot with over 4000 hours in tactical aircraft, every qual possible in Marine Corps helicopter aviation and having graduated the Naval Aviation Commander’s Safety course. He doesn’t know what happened in that aircraft yet because no one does and his cavalier language is insulting to a fellow pilot who might have done an outstanding job and still died for all we know. Some emergencies just aren’t survivable, some great pilots get themselves and their pax killed being stupid. Often the answer is in between. But only a jackass speculates with incomplete information at this point.
Helicopter pilots get cavalier with the weather, especially around terrain in a manner that would terrify most fixed wing pilots. I say that now flying fixed wing aircraft for a major airline. Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) is a common helicopter killer and it is a fairly linear risk across the range of pilot experience and quality of equipment.