LOS ANGELES - Vanessa Bryant, the widow of NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the pilot and owners of the helicopter that crashed last year in which Los Angeles Lakers legend Gianna, daughter of the Bryants, died . , & seven others.
Vanessa Bryant, her children and relatives of additional victims filed a settlement settlement notice with a federal judge here on Tuesday, but the terms of the confidential deal were not disclosed.
If approved by the court, the settlement will eliminate the property of the pilot & the negligence & wrongful death suit filed against the owner & operator of the helicopter that crashed on a hill on January 26, 2020.
Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter & six other passengers were flying from Orange County to a youth basketball tournament at their Mamba Sports Academy in Ventura County. The helicopter encountered thick fog in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles.
Pilot Ara Zobayan climbed rapidly & had nearly broken through the clouds when the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter suddenly slid into the bank & crashed into the Calabasas hills below, killing all nine people before flames engulfed the wreckage. Gone.
Others killed were Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Kerry, & their daughter Alyssa; Christina Mauser, who helped Bryant coach her daughter's basketball team; & Sarah Chester & her daughter Peyton. Alyssa & Peyton were Gianna's partners.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a report in February that blamed pilot error for the crash. The NTSB said a series of poor decisions led Zobayan to fly blindly into a wall of clouds, where he became so disoriented that he thought he was climbing when the craft was falling.
The agency hired Island Express Helicopters Inc. for inadequate review & monitoring of security matters. also convicted.
The settlement agreement will end legal action against Zobayan's assets, Island Express Helicopters Inc., & its owner, Island Express Holding Corp. The suit alleged that the companies did not properly train or supervise Zobayan and that the pilot was careless & reckless to fly in the fog. And the flight should have been aborted.
Island Express Helicopters has denied responsibility and said the crash was "an act of God" that it could not control. This overturned two Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers saying the crash was caused by their "series of wrongful acts & missions".