Kobe Bryant has used a Sikorsky S-76 since he was a player for the Lakers.
Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant died on Sunday morning when his private helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California. The chopper reportedly caught fire and collided into a hillside, killing all five people on board, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna. The crash ignited a brush fire at the scene, which made it difficult for emergency personnel to respond.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash, which is currently unknown. Weather reports indicate that conditions were foggy; it’s unclear whether the fog contributed to the crash, but the Los Angeles International Airport had delayed flights over the weekend due to poor visibility.
Bryant’s helicopter was reportedly a Sikorsky S-76B, a model which he had been known to use while he was playing with the Lakers, as he found it taxing on his body to sit in a car for too long. The aircraft tracking service Flightradar24 indicates that the helicopter had been used multiple times in the past week.
Sikorsky, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, also makes vehicles for the military. The company markets the Sikorsky S-76 to corporate executives for personal transportation, though it’s also used for search and rescue missions. It typically costs around $13 million, can carry up to 12 passengers, features twin turboshaft engines, and has a range of 472 miles. More than 178 corporate and VIP customers currently operate Sikorsky S-76 helicopters, as do various heads of state. A Sikorsky S-76 crashed in Canada in 2013, as did another in Turkey in 2017. The company’s website, though, notes that the helicopter has “more than 7.4 million hours of safe, successful flight.” According to Business Insider, the Sikorsky S-76 has a “sterling safety record.”
Kobe’s particular helicopter had been manufactured in 1991, and the NTSB database does not indicate any other accidents associated with the same tail number. The official Sikorsky Twitter account announced that it has been in contact with the NTSB:
Helicopters tend to crash more frequently than other types of aircraft because they typically fly lower to the ground, which increases the risk that they might run into obstacles like buildings or power lines, especially when the weather makes it hard for a pilot to see. Compared to planes, they have more moving parts that can malfunction and tend to take off and land more often, which are statistically the most dangerous periods of any flight. They’re also generally harder to operate, particularly for beginners: The rate of accidents during training flights for helicopters is twice as high as that for planes. According to the FAA, though, the number of civilian helicopters has grown by 30 percent since 2006, while the number of accidents has actually decreased in “key global regions” by 30 to 50 percent.
Readers like you make our work possible. Help us continue to provide the reporting, commentary and criticism you won’t find anywhere else.
Join Slate Plusfrom Slate Magazine https://ift.tt/3aJFKMK
via IFTTT
沒有留言:
張貼留言