This pilot was in an extremely difficult situation.. Looking out the window and at his moving map to search for the freeway while flying between mountains in low visibility in a helicopter is a daunting task. That's why emergency helicopters would not fly to the scene regardless of number of pilots, spotters, detailed terraine knowledge, etc. Given visitbility and his stated altitude, I suspect he would have spent at least part of the time keeping the helicopter upright by flight instruments alone - tricky business and not easy to switch back and forth between instruments and ground reference flying. Flying on insruments has a lot to do with keeping change under control. It's not as much about altitude as change in altitude. It's not as much about direction as change in direction. Etc. When switchig to instruments, one doesn't have a concept of change - one has to watch to see what the trends are. (And, don't hit anything while doing that, so watch your moving map, too.) The same sort of thing happes when trying to make out ground features in fog - one may have to stare for a bit. I don't know what they'll find, of course, but he faced more than enough to end up with him losing control of the aircraft. He didn't need drug deficits to cause that. And, the helicopter did go totally out of control, descending at a really high rate of speed. It's not like he flew into a mountain slope.
I don't hate Bryant. He wasn't my hero and I couldn't tell you his stats because I don't watch basketball, but I didn't hate him. He was a human and we lose humans every day, I'll mourn my closest friends and my family or perhaps some co-workers, but not a sports star, even if it was Drew Brees or Joe Burrow. They're no more special, in my opinion, than you or me. Edit: I used those 2 figures because I'm a die-hard LSU and Saints fan.
Terrain warning wouldn't have helped. A normal descent rate would be about 500 feet/minute, with slowing at the end. Radar data indicates the helicopter fell pretty much directly down at a rate of about 4,000 feet/minute. That is not survivable. The problem is that the pilot clearly lost control of the aircraft.
It is beyond me where you ever came up with the idea of me conveying anything about who or what a hero is, but it certainly isn't someone that you seem to defend on this forum. My comment was purely about those that are left behind by the tragedy. So, with that. Carry on.
Thanks - The radar track I saw ended at 4,000/minute, but it could easily be that there are reasons that the final rate was not a good reading or that they had a better radar tracking source or whatever. I wonder if there was a black box. That could be even more definitive.
Again you have made a mistake with your injecting your thoughts into something someone posted. Please try to refrain from doing something that idiotic.
They are though. Many of us followed the career of Kobe from his games in high school to his retirement. We knew his life, his family, his triumphs and his failures on and off the court. We watched him tear his Achilles and still go back out to shoot free throws. We watched him struggle to return from injury. We watched him win multiple titles and make a ridiculous amount of clutch shots. I wouldn't say that about every NBA player, but anybody who watched Kobe knew he was special.
I agree. Also, regarding the allegations, Kobe did a fantastic job of retaining public trust (and fan support) after the incident. He "lived it down" to the point of having a Repeat to go with the Threepeat.
I wonder how many people who found Trump despicable for trying to pay off a woman he had an affair with, completely discount that Kobe payed off a woman he assaulted?
He was an entertainer. I think we need to remember that there are others whose very lives are equally amazing, meaningful, productive. We just don't all clap and throw money like we do for entertainers. And, don't get me started on giving a presidential medal of freedom to Rushbo.
