- 2 weeks ago
Air Crash Investigation Series S22E10 Loss Of A Legend
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00:00Breaking news, five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash.
00:10A high-profile aviation accident devastates Los Angeles.
00:15I'm just at a last forage right now.
00:17NTSB investigators quickly inspect the wreckage.
00:20All the mechanical systems and electronic systems appear to be working fine.
00:25The data provides a detailed picture of the entire flight.
00:28So they get airborne just after nine, and then they get held up for 12 minutes.
00:33Hello, we're due. Echo X-ray. Hold outside Burbank Airspace.
00:36Okay, we'll hold outside Burbank.
00:38Certainly this added to the time of the flight.
00:41He's bombing along here at about 140 knots.
00:45Investigators must consider the unthinkable.
00:48Was he trying to make up for the last time?
00:50A lot of people wonder if Kobe being Kobe might have put pressure on this pilot.
00:54But there's no evidence to support that suspicion.
00:56So what happened to this guy?
00:58Hey, Rick.
01:26So I'm going to go straight north to Dodger Stadium, around Burbank, and follow the 118 to get up and around the weather down here.
01:34What's the visibility at Burbank?
01:36Broken clouds with five-mile visibility. We're good to go.
01:41Ara Zabayan is a helicopter pilot with more than 8,000 flying hours.
01:46They'll be here in about 15 minutes. I'll meet them here and help get them loaded.
01:48Roger that.
01:49He's the chief pilot for Island Express, a helicopter charter company based in California's Los Angeles County.
01:56Island Express is a family-owned company that's been in Southern California for a number of decades.
02:01And they're known as a company that can provide VIP helicopter service.
02:07Amongst their high-profile regular customers, media star Kylie Jenner, L.A. Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard, and today's client, L.A. Lakers great Kobe Bryant.
02:19Kobe Bryant was one of the best basketball players of all time. He's an iconic Los Angeles Laker.
02:25He was drafted by the team in 1996 when he was 17 years old. He became the heart and soul of the team for 20 years.
02:32He won five world championships. He went to the All-Star Game 18 times.
02:36And really just became a huge star in his own right, apart from the team, in that he was recognized simply by his first name, Kobe.
02:43How's everyone doing today?
02:46Ara Zabayan has flown Kobe and his family dozens of times.
02:50Let's get going.
02:53Kobe and the pilot of this helicopter had really become friends because he had piloted him so many times around Southern California that they developed a relationship.
03:03Kobe Bryant flies in a luxury Sikorsky S-76B. It's configured to carry eight passengers.
03:09The Sikorsky S-76B is sort of like an air limousine in that it's quite common for VIP travel.
03:17I think heads of state use it in different countries, and it's also used as sort of an air ambulance in some situations.
03:24It's spacious and reliable. It's really considered about as safe as they come.
03:30Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and six others are headed to a basketball tournament near Camarillo, 80 miles away.
03:37Kobe. Kobe is the team's coach, Gianna the star player.
03:45Today's 30-minute flight will take the helicopter north past Burbank and then west towards Camarillo.
03:52Zabayan will follow two highways for guidance, the 5 northwest and the 101 west to Camarillo.
04:00Hey, everyone. It's about to get loud back there.
04:02Helicopter 72 Echo X-ray, Island Express, for East 1 departure.
04:13Helicopter 72 Echo X-ray, cleared for departure from Island Express. Have a good flight.
04:19Good flight to Echo X-ray.
04:21Just after 9 a.m., the helicopter lifts off from Santa Ana.
04:26The destination is Kobe Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy.
04:33It's a regular journey for Zabayan. He flew this same group there and back yesterday.
04:39He was a very experienced pilot.
04:42He was able to fly the helicopter at speed, at low altitude, in a very dense airspace, and deal with weather at the same time.
04:50Since his early days as a player, Kobe Bryant has preferred helicopter travel to the crowded freeways of Southern California.
05:00He routinely uses helicopters for his personal and professional travel.
05:05Kobe loved to fly by a helicopter just because he loved how much time it saved him.
05:11Kurt Dietz also flew for Island Express.
05:13Flying in LA is like nowhere else. There is a large congestion of multiple types of airspace in a small area.
05:25So you're always in and out of airspace.
05:29Today's flight will first need to pass through the controlled airspace surrounding Burbank, and then Van Nuys.
05:37Burbank Helicopter 72 Echo X-ray, Sikorsky Helicopter, approaching the Zoom for a 101 westbound transition.
05:44Zabayan requests permission to pass through Burbank's airspace.
05:48It's a very busy airport, and the controllers, they know what they're doing.
05:53November 72 Echo X-ray, Burbank Tower. Burbank Class Charlie is IFR. Say intentions.
05:59Burbank is only accepting IFR flights, or instrument flight rules, which requires pilots to navigate solely on instruments.
06:07Zabayan, however, is only authorized to fly using Visual Flight Reference, or VFR.
06:15The threshold for the visual flight is normally three miles. The Burbank airport was two and a half miles.
06:22With insufficient visibility for VFR, the controller denies his request.
06:29But Zabayan's been flying helicopters in Southern California long enough to know a way around this restriction.
06:34Asking for special VFR transition to the 101 westbound.
06:40A special VFR allows him to operate at lower than standard visibilities, down to one mile visibility.
06:47And that's an agreement you have with the tower, saying, I'm here, I want to go there, I'm requesting a special VFR.
06:57A special VFR allows Zabayan to navigate visually through the area of low visibility.
07:03November 2, Echo X-ray, hold outside Burbank Airspace, I have an aircraft going around, and an inbound citation.
07:11The controller authorizes Zabayan to cross into Burbank Airspace.
07:16But under the rules of special VFR, he must now wait until the airspace is clear of traffic.
07:23Okay, we'll hold outside Burbank, to Echo X-ray.
07:27Hey everyone, we'll have to circle here for a few minutes while we wait for a few planes to get out of our way.
07:32It shouldn't delay us too much.
07:33Any time you have a hold, it puts a great deal of pressure on you as a pilot, because you're going to be late.
07:47Finally, after holding for 12 minutes, the Burbank Airspace clears, and Zabayan is allowed to pass through.
07:55November 2, Echo X-ray, cleared through Burbank, maintained special VFR.
07:59Copy that, we'll maintain special VFR after 2, Echo X-ray.
08:02From Burbank, the helicopter will follow the I-5 freeway northwest, and then the 118 around the top of Van Nuys Airspace, then south to follow the 101 to Camarillo.
08:16Landmarks for flying aircraft in L.A. is really important.
08:23Kobe Bryant and the other passengers are anticipated to arrive in Camarillo just a few minutes behind schedule.
08:30Van Nuys, helicopter 2, Echo X-ray, with you for the special VFR transition.
08:36Helicopter 7-2, Echo X-ray, cleared into Van Nuys along the 118 freeway westbound.
08:42The helicopter is cleared to pass through the airspace near Van Nuys.
08:49Zabayan now dials in the final controller for this journey, the Southern California Radar Approach Controller, who will handle the flight until it reaches Camarillo.
08:59SoCal, helicopter 7-2, Echo X-ray, with you at 570 to Camarillo.
09:04Helicopter 7-2, Echo X-ray, SoCal Approach.
09:07Roger, are you just going to stay down that low all the way to Camarillo?
09:11The helicopter is flying 570 feet above the ground.
09:16Yes, sir, low altitude, two Echo X-ray.
09:20Zabayan needs to stay below the clouds, which are around 1,000 feet above the ground.
09:26The way he went was the lowest route a mile, because of the weather.
09:32Roger, I'm going to lose radar with you shortly.
09:34But at the low altitude in hilly terrain, controllers won't be able to maintain radar contact with the flight.
09:43The controllers would not see him on radar, he was so low.
09:47Copy that, see where I go, X-ray.
09:49Less than 10 minutes from his destination, the visibility gets worse.
10:06In the Los Angeles basin area, it's well known to get this marine layer of colder water, temperatures, warmer air, where you'll get these low clouds and you get lower visibilities.
10:20Zabayan radios in his intention to climb above some low clouds.
10:24We're going to go ahead and start our climb to go above the layers.
10:38Two Echo X-ray, where are you?
10:41Just west of Van Nuys, two Echo X-ray.
10:45Two Echo X-ray, ident.
10:47The controller hasn't been tracking the helicopter.
10:51He needs Zabayan to flash his transponder signal so he can locate it on his screen.
10:56You press a button on your transponder.
10:58That flash is on their radar screen so they know where you are.
11:02I dent.
11:03I dent.
11:08Two Echo X-rays, say intentions.
11:10Uh, we're climbing to 4,000, two Echo X-ray.
11:16And what are you going to do when you reach altitude?
11:18In the hills near Calabasas, witnesses see a helicopter emerge from the clouds and hit the ground.
11:48The team tracking Kobe Bryant's flight realizes something's gone wrong.
11:55The helicopter should have landed at Camarillo by now.
11:58It has disappeared from their flight tracker.
12:02We have some breaking news.
12:03A helicopter crash in Southern California.
12:06Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies responding to reports of that crash just before 10 a.m. Pacific time.
12:12It's located in the Calabasas area.
12:15It doesn't take long before the media is reporting the tragic news.
12:20Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, along with seven other people, have been killed in the helicopter crash.
12:28It's just one of those things where you can read the words and you kind of process them, but you don't really.
12:35It's hard for it to sink in because you've got to think about that he's never coming back.
12:39He was the guy. He was my icon, my role model, who got me into the sport, who got me playing.
12:47I'm just at a loss for words right now.
12:50You won't see another player like him again. He's going to be missed.
12:54There is this tremendous outpouring of grief in Los Angeles.
12:58People flocked to Staples Center, left all kinds of different mementos.
13:04This is much bigger than basketball, I think, just because I think Kobe was a real symbol, you know, of just hard work and dedication.
13:13Everybody was really just heartsick by what happened.
13:16Love you, Kobe. Love you, Gigi and all the family.
13:19We're here to conduct a safety investigation, and our mission is not to just determine what happened,
13:32but why it happened and how it happened to prevent a similar accident from ever happening again.
13:38The NTSB begins its investigation at the crash site, looking for any clues to explain why a state-of-the-art helicopter,
13:48being flown by a highly experienced pilot, crashed 24 miles short of its destination.
13:55The first thing you do to the crash site is try to see did all the components make it to the crash site.
14:02Was there any kind of mechanical failure? Did a rotor blade break or a tail rotor come off?
14:08The team uses a drone to scan the accident site and study the shape of the debris.
14:14Looking at this accident site, it's very clear. This was a relatively high-rated ascent.
14:19The helicopter hit, and the wreckage then bounced about 90 feet to where it came to a rest.
14:25So there was a lot more vertical speed here than you have at horizontal speed.
14:31And all the parts of the helicopter made it to the accident site.
14:38Investigators study flight control surfaces, the engines, and rotors, as well as the helicopter's flight instruments.
14:47Examinations components found that there was no evidence of any pre-impact failures,
14:53that all the mechanical systems, electronic systems, everything at that time appeared to be working fine.
14:58The NTSB's Bill English has led investigations into some of the world's most notorious aviation accidents.
15:07We need to cover all our bases on this one.
15:11Knowing there was a high-profile person on board, obviously NTSB responded with a major investigations team.
15:18Okay.
15:19He takes off at 907, he flies northwest.
15:22To better understand what happened, investigators pieced together a detailed flight path from an ADS-B system that's on board the Sikorsky helicopter.
15:34ADS-B data is like transponder data.
15:38Controllers can see, it's recorded, your airspeed, altitude, and headings, other information.
15:44And so you have this plotting capability.
15:47It looks like there's some kind of hold here at Burbank, and he follows the I-5 to Van Nuys.
15:54And then south to the 101, which he follows until he makes this U-turn, straight into a hillside.
16:00You would see this turn to the left, where he's coming back around or doing something.
16:05And that question is now in the investigation.
16:08What's exactly the pilot doing here?
16:10Let's take a look at the visibility.
16:12They study visibility reports from weather stations along the route.
16:18He did manage to avoid the worst of it here, a bit socked in near Burbank and Van Nuys, but nothing he can't get through.
16:28He had four miles of visibility.
16:30When he got near Burbank Airport, it was two and a half miles visibility.
16:34That's still totally flyable for him.
16:36In fact, by his operation specifications, he could go down to one mile visibility.
16:40Okay, I get it if the visibility was down to zero, but this wasn't that bad.
16:46So what happened to this guy?
16:49Why do we have a high-time pilot in an aircraft that's capable of flight,
16:53and visibility conditions he should have been able to handle,
16:56either lose control or somehow inadvertently fly his helicopter to the ground?
17:01That becomes the key piece of this investigation.
17:04We need to figure out what he can actually see.
17:07We have a request for the public.
17:16We're looking for photos of the weather in the area of the crash.
17:23If you could send those photos to witness at ntsb.gov.
17:28Investigators make a plea to the public for evidence regarding the Island Express helicopter crash
17:35that took the lives of Kobe Bryant and eight others.
17:39They're looking for clues to explain how the pilot, Ara Zabayan,
17:44ended up hitting a hillside on a route he knew well.
17:47More than 8,300 flying hours, instructor on the S-76, chief pilot at Island Express,
17:56apparently Kobe's favorite pilot.
17:58Bit of a superstar.
18:01Yeah.
18:02This pilot was not a rookie who just got his license.
18:07He was one of L.A.'s top helicopter pilots,
18:10working for one of its top companies with some of its most high-profile clients.
18:16Records show that at 7 a.m. on the morning of the flight,
18:19Zabayan checked the weather for his pre-flight risk assessment
18:23and determined that even though there were low-hanging clouds blanketing the area,
18:27the flight was low-risk.
18:30A risk assessment is weather, anxiety, sleep.
18:36All these factors are going to a flight.
18:38But a low-lying cloud layer surrounding Los Angeles,
18:42known as a marine layer,
18:44forced Zabayan to alter his regular, more direct route.
18:49Because of the weather, he'd flew more inland than he normally does.
18:53Sort of a backdoor way in to where they were going.
18:56Based on the forecast, his plan was okay.
18:59Pretty good visibility all along the way.
19:02So what went wrong?
19:05Investigators need to understand the exact conditions Zabayan flew into
19:10in the final moments of the flight.
19:14These are three separate cameras all facing south toward the 101.
19:17Couldn't ask for a better view.
19:19The NTSB's plea for pictures of the weather pays off.
19:23A nearby baseball facility had surveillance cameras
19:26pointed at key sections of the flight path
19:28as the helicopter flew past.
19:30Let's see what this one shows on a clear day.
19:35Investigators compare images from the same camera
19:37taken on a clear day
19:39to images recorded at the time of the accident.
19:41The helicopter would be bombing along here.
19:49Can't see it.
19:50How close did it get to the camera?
19:53Best view of it would be here.
19:56That's 4,400 feet.
19:57The helicopter is less than a mile from the camera
20:01but isn't visible.
20:02Okay, so what about larger objects?
20:05These hills, for instance.
20:08Visible on a clear day
20:09but not at the time of the crash.
20:12That hilltop is 8,000 feet away.
20:15So visibility beneath the clouds was less than 8,000 feet.
20:19It's a mile and a half.
20:20The video study tells investigators
20:23that around the time of the accident
20:25Zubayen would not have been able to see
20:27any further than 1 and a half miles.
20:30You're only allowed to fly
20:32invisibilities 1 mile or greater.
20:37Mile and a half?
20:39Pretty low.
20:40Pretty, uh...
20:42Pretty minimal.
20:44Investigators know Zubayen
20:46would have been able to fly safely below the clouds
20:48with 1 and a half mile visibility.
20:51So Waterfield was actually above the cloud base.
20:54But he was only...
20:56450 feet above the ground.
20:59The cloud ceiling,
21:01the base of the cloud layer,
21:03was reported to be 1,100 feet near Van Nuys.
21:07But Zubayen was flying about 450 feet above the ground
21:11which would put him well below the clouds.
21:14These are images from the camera on the 101 facing west.
21:16Okay, you can just make him out here
21:22actually heading into fairly heavy clouds.
21:25Same camera, 3 seconds later, he's disappeared.
21:29And then we have a witness
21:29who says that she saw the helicopter disappear
21:32into what she described as
21:33the thick wall of heavy clouds.
21:35The NTSB had quite a few very good witnesses,
21:40in my opinion,
21:40and they also had cameras in the area.
21:43So they could collect data in real time
21:46of what this pilot would have been encountering.
21:49Their surveillance data shows him
21:51only 450 feet above the ground.
21:54So the cloud base was no more than 450 feet above the ground.
21:58Not the 1,100 feet,
22:00which was being reported along its route.
22:01The report at an airport five miles away
22:08can be greatly different than what you're encountering
22:11because of uplifting winds
22:13and that type of thing around the hills.
22:15The area near Calabasas has its own unique climate.
22:20The Malibu Canyon can channel fog up
22:22from the Pacific Ocean.
22:24That fog is known to pull
22:26precisely where Zubayen was seen flying into clouds.
22:29The fog gathers here at Murrow Road
22:32and this is where our witnesses saw him enter the clouds.
22:37Investigators have determined
22:38that just over a minute before the accident,
22:41Zubayen flew into dense clouds
22:43that would have reduced his visibility to near zero.
22:48That clinches it.
22:49He flew into IMC.
22:50IMC, Instrument Meteorological Conditions,
22:56is when visibility is so poor
22:58that pilots need to fly only on instruments.
23:02They were only authorized to fly under visual flight rules.
23:06Legally, he's not allowed to enter it.
23:08He's only allowed to go in visual conditions only.
23:11And yet he did.
23:12In aviation, there's a term for VFR pilots
23:15who fly into low visibility conditions.
23:18It's called an inadvertent encounter with IMC.
23:22It can happen at night.
23:23We fly into a cloud that you didn't see.
23:26It can happen that you're choosing to avoid something
23:29and you inadvertently go into a cloud.
23:31Unfortunately, it's an accident happens way too often.
23:35Inadvertent IMC is a leading cause
23:37of aviation accidents over the past 10 years.
23:40More than 80% of them are fatal.
23:43You can't see where the horizon is.
23:45And you can't see the sky from the ground.
23:48You don't know visually which is our main sense.
23:50You have to rely on secondary senses,
23:53such as sense of balance.
23:55And there are illusions that come up.
23:58An inadvertent encounter with instrument conditions
24:00is so potentially dangerous
24:02that pilots are trained to do whatever they can to avoid it.
24:06How did he let himself get into this situation?
24:14Let's see his speeds and altitudes.
24:18The data from the ADS-B gives investigators
24:21a detailed picture of the helicopter's altitude and speed
24:24as it approached Calabasas.
24:26If Sir Bayan tried to avoid the worsening conditions,
24:30the data would show it.
24:31He's bombing along here at about 140 knots.
24:35Visibility is getting worse and worse,
24:37but he's not slowing down.
24:39He's not turning around.
24:40He just keeps going.
24:43Why?
24:43He could have turned around,
24:50landed at Van Nuys.
24:52He could have circled for a while,
24:54were near the airport,
24:55waiting for the conditions to improve.
24:57For whatever reason we don't know,
24:59he chose none of those options.
25:02The team now considers the widely held belief
25:05that Sir Bayan was pressured to continue the flight
25:08by his high-profile passenger.
25:09A lot of people wondered after the crash happened
25:13if Colby, being Colby,
25:15might have put pressure on this pilot
25:16to get to where he wanted to go,
25:18because that's the whole reason
25:19that he was taking the helicopter in the first place,
25:21is to get from point A to point B
25:23and do it without any unnecessary delays.
25:26The same passengers take the same flight
25:28the day before the accident.
25:31They're scheduled to take off at 9.45,
25:33but Colby changes that to 9.
25:35They moved it up by 45 minutes
25:40so that Colby could watch another team
25:41or teams play in preparation
25:43for his daughter's basketball tournament on Sunday.
25:47So they get airborne just after 9,
25:50and then this happens.
25:53They're held up for 12 minutes.
25:56November 2, Echo X-ray,
25:57hold outside Burbank Airspace.
25:59I have an aircraft going around
26:00in an inbound citation.
26:02Investigators know that Colby's helicopter
26:04was held up at Burbank for 12 minutes
26:07while Zubayan waited for traffic
26:08to clear the controlled airspace.
26:11Okay, we'll hold outside Burbank.
26:12Two Echo X-ray.
26:17A little more than 10 minutes later,
26:19Zubayan flew into thick cloud cover
26:21at a speed of 160 miles an hour
26:24as he approached Camarillo.
26:26In my opinion, 140 knots
26:28is probably twice the speed
26:30he should have been operating
26:31in those visual conditions.
26:32He should have slowed down.
26:34Was he trying to make up
26:36for the last time?
26:37The team digs into
26:38Colby Bryan's previous flights
26:40with Island Express
26:41to see if there's any history
26:42of him putting pressure on pilots.
26:45He took 26 flights
26:46with Island Express last year.
26:48Not once did he pressure
26:49a pilot to keep going.
26:54Colby would never
26:56put pressure on a pilot.
26:57I flew in for two years.
26:59Not once was there ever
27:01any amount of pressure from him.
27:06Investigators find no evidence
27:08that Colby Bryant
27:09or any member of his team
27:11put pressure on Zubayan
27:12to continue the flight.
27:14They had a history.
27:15They scrutinize Colby Bryant's
27:17relationship with Ara Zubayan
27:19for anything that could have
27:20affected the pilot's behavior
27:22on the day of the accident.
27:23More than history.
27:25The director of operations
27:26says that Colby's relationship
27:28with Ara was, quote,
27:30warm and friendly.
27:31That he trusted Ara
27:33with his girls and his family.
27:35And that they always wanted Ara.
27:37The company's VP says that
27:39their relationship was
27:40more like a friendship.
27:42And that Colby would call him
27:44Mr. Pilot Man.
27:45These guys sure were tight.
27:47The relationship may have been
27:49pressure enough.
27:51How's everyone doing today?
27:56Investigators conclude that
27:57Zubayan's close relationship
27:58with Colby Bryant may have led
28:00to self-induced pressure
28:02to get him to his destination.
28:05Part of the concern here
28:06is that the pilot was trying
28:08to complete the mission
28:09in part to satisfy the client.
28:14Investigators soon find
28:15another important factor
28:17that may have influenced
28:18Zubayan's decision-making.
28:19Six minutes before the crash,
28:21he clears Ben-Nai's airspace
28:23and heads south.
28:24Tells controllers that he planned
28:25to stay low all the way
28:27to Camarillo.
28:28Stay below clouds.
28:30I'm with Dr. 7-2 Echo X-ray.
28:32Are you just going to stay down
28:33that low all the way
28:34to Camarillo?
28:35Yes, sir.
28:35Low altitude to Echo X-ray.
28:38Two minutes later,
28:39he starts following the 101,
28:41which should lead him
28:42straight into Camarillo.
28:44He bounds along the 101
28:45for two more minutes
28:46until he hits this wall of clouds.
28:4824 miles to go.
28:54He's almost there.
28:56Almost.
28:57Zubayan was less than
28:5810 minutes away
28:59from getting his passengers
29:00to their destination.
29:02When you're close to finishing,
29:04you have a tendency
29:04to be willing to tolerate
29:06conditions that might have caused you
29:07not to take the trip originally.
29:09The team believes Zubayan
29:12was suffering from a condition
29:13known as plan continuation bias
29:16when he decided to keep going
29:17despite deteriorating weather conditions.
29:21Plan continuation bias
29:23is an unconscious bias
29:25to continue with the original plan
29:27even when conditions change.
29:29But in an aviation environment,
29:31it can be deadly.
29:33It doesn't take long
29:34for things to start going wrong
29:36as soon as he enters that cloud.
29:38Instead of turning around,
29:39Zubayan decides
29:40to climb above the clouds.
29:42We're going to go ahead
29:43and start our climb
29:43to go above the layers.
29:47He starts banking
29:49further and further left,
29:50descends rapidly,
29:52hits the hill here.
29:53The pilot's unusual actions
29:56lead investigators to wonder
29:57about the level of training
29:59he received.
30:01He was trained to avoid IMC
30:03and what to do
30:04if he got into it.
30:06They discover that Zubayan
30:08was well-trained
30:09to escape the precise conditions
30:11he flew into.
30:14This pilot trained routinely
30:16for inadvertent IMC situation.
30:18More than that,
30:19he was the chief pilot
30:20of the company.
30:21He set the safety standards
30:23for all the pilots
30:24and he trained them
30:25on how to deal
30:27with instrument conditions.
30:29This is what he was taught.
30:30A review of Zubayan's training
30:32shows that he was taught
30:33to reduce his speed,
30:35use the autopilot
30:37to climb above the clouds,
30:39and then declare an emergency.
30:42His training was good.
30:44But did Zubayan follow his training?
30:47Here he's entering
30:49an area of low visibility,
30:50still flying well above 100 knots.
30:53No evidence of slowing down.
30:55Investigators know
30:56Zubayan did not reduce speed.
30:58They now wonder
30:59if he engaged the autopilot.
31:01Play.
31:02We're gonna go ahead
31:03and start our climb
31:04to go above the layers.
31:06Look at that rate of climb.
31:071,500 feet a minute.
31:09Can't be the autopilot doing that.
31:11That exceeds the authority
31:13of the autopilot system.
31:14Therefore, this climb
31:15was being manually controlled.
31:17All right.
31:18Well, at this point,
31:19he's just trying to get above the clouds
31:20without the autopilot.
31:23The higher Zubayan climbs
31:25into the dense cloud,
31:26the worse the visibility gets.
31:28But he never asks for help.
31:30Well, he never reports an emergency
31:32and never mentions being an IMC.
31:34The one thing he should have been saying,
31:39mayday, mayday, mayday,
31:41clear an emergency,
31:42isn't for an IMC.
31:44He didn't slow down,
31:46he didn't use his autopilot,
31:48and never declared an emergency.
31:50He ignored all his training.
31:53There are basic procedures
31:55that should be followed,
31:56and you have to have
31:57a very cautious approach
31:59to any sort of instrument conditions.
32:00This was not evident
32:02in the way the pilot flew that day.
32:07By ignoring his training,
32:09Zubayan found himself
32:10in a rapid climb with no visibility
32:12and without the help of the autopilot.
32:15Prime conditions
32:16for becoming spatially disoriented.
32:19Anne-Marie Landman
32:20studies the effects
32:21of spatial disorientation in pilots.
32:24If you take away
32:25outside visual reference
32:26from a pilot,
32:27then he or she will really
32:28have to trust the instruments.
32:30Because if you don't have
32:31outside visual reference,
32:33then any sensation that you feel
32:35can be very misleading.
32:37Did Ara Zubayan
32:38suffer the effects of disorientation
32:40after flying into dense clouds?
32:43Two echo x-rays say intentions.
32:46Zubayan's last words
32:47show that's precisely what happened.
32:50We're climbing to 4,000
32:51two echo x-ray.
32:53Did you hear that?
32:54It's like he completely
32:55lost his bearings.
32:57The recording tells investigators
33:00that Zubayan believed
33:01he was climbing
33:02when he was actually
33:03descending rapidly
33:04towards the ground
33:05in a steep left turn.
33:08It's what aviators call
33:10the graveyard spiral.
33:11So right in that aircraft?
33:15No.
33:16In a mountainous area?
33:17You're done.
33:18You're absolutely done.
33:20The team has pieced together
33:22a picture of a pilot
33:23who flew into prime conditions
33:25for causing disorientation.
33:28Zubayan's problem starts
33:29just after he flies into the cloud.
33:31He decides the best thing to do
33:32is to fly above it.
33:33But as he climbs,
33:35visibility worsens,
33:36and his reference
33:37to the highway below
33:38and the horizon ahead
33:40quickly disappear.
33:42It's all but impossible
33:43for pilots to determine
33:44a plane's pitch and roll
33:46without a visual reference
33:47to their surroundings.
33:49Without visual cues,
33:51the human body
33:52is unable to maintain
33:53its spatial bearings.
33:54The result is disorientation.
33:58As the highway below
34:00veers left,
34:01Zubayan tries to stay with it.
34:03He puts the helicopter
34:04into a gradual left turn.
34:06He's not looking
34:07at the instruments
34:08at this point.
34:09He was perhaps looking down
34:10to search for the highway
34:11that he was following before.
34:14Two-echo x-ray ident.
34:17Zubayan now faces
34:19a distraction
34:20that makes the situation
34:21significantly worse.
34:22Ident.
34:23He is forced
34:24to identify himself
34:25to the controller.
34:26It's not only a distraction,
34:28it forces him
34:29to move his head,
34:30which increases
34:31the risk of disorientation.
34:35We advise pilots
34:36to not move their head around
34:38when they're flying
34:39without outside
34:39visual reference.
34:41This is moving
34:42the fluid
34:42in your inner ears,
34:44and this actually
34:45makes you a little bit
34:45more susceptible
34:46to illusions.
34:48The highway now
34:48veers off to the right,
34:50but he's lost sight of it.
34:51He's banking further
34:53and further to the left
34:54without even realizing it.
34:5630 seconds from impact.
34:59Disorientation sets in.
35:02The turn is so gradual
35:04and it is so slow
35:05that the onset,
35:06it seems that he's not feeling that.
35:08So for him,
35:09it still feels
35:10that he's flying level.
35:12And he gets to 1,600 feet
35:13and he starts to descend
35:14without even knowing it.
35:15It's clear
35:17that prior to the accident,
35:20the pilot really did not know
35:21what the helicopter was doing
35:23because he was asked
35:24his intentions
35:25and he indicated
35:26that he was climbing
35:27to 4,000 feet.
35:29We're climbing
35:29to 4,000
35:30to echo x-ray.
35:32At that point,
35:33the helicopter
35:33was not climbing.
35:35It was descending
35:35towards a crash
35:36and the pilot
35:37didn't realize it.
35:38He's now in a rapid descent
35:41and likely looking
35:43for clear skies above,
35:45not noticing
35:45what his instruments
35:46are showing.
35:47Without having
35:48outside visual references
35:49and not being focused
35:50on your instruments,
35:51it's very easy
35:52for that to happen
35:53and it does happen
35:54far too often.
35:56He's so far over,
35:57it's like he lost
35:58all his lift.
35:59He's plummeting
35:59to the ground.
36:01Graveyard spiral.
36:02Classic.
36:03About a minute
36:04after entering the clouds,
36:05he hits the ground
36:05like this,
36:06almost on his side.
36:08At more than 160 knots,
36:10there's no sign
36:11he ever figured out
36:12what was really happening.
36:17Kobe Bryant
36:18and eight others
36:19died as a result
36:20of an all-too-common scenario.
36:22A helicopter pilot
36:24flying IMC
36:25and becoming disoriented.
36:29We need something
36:30to help pilots
36:31understand that
36:32just because you feel
36:33like your body
36:34is being pushed down
36:35to the sea
36:35doesn't mean you're climbing.
36:38That device exists
36:39and it's helping
36:40train pilots
36:41in the Netherlands.
36:43The one-of-a-kind simulator
36:45lets researchers
36:45reproduce the feeling
36:47of spatial disorientation
36:48without pilots
36:49having to leave the ground.
36:51Okay, Martin,
36:53so how are you feeling now?
36:55I'm feeling bitched up.
36:56You're feeling bitched up?
36:57Yeah.
37:01Investigators
37:02hoping to prevent
37:02the kind of accident
37:03that caused
37:04Ara Zabajan
37:05to get so badly disoriented
37:07are looking closely
37:10at the work being done
37:11in labs like this one
37:12at the Netherlands
37:13Organization for Applied
37:14Scientific Research
37:16or TNO.
37:18We investigate
37:19the effects
37:20of spatial disorientation
37:21on pilot performance.
37:24Zabajan believed
37:25he was climbing
37:25when he was actually
37:27descending
37:27and was unaware
37:28that he was in
37:29a steep left turn.
37:32He was suffering
37:32from two of the most
37:34common illusions
37:34affecting pilots.
37:37Somatogravic
37:37involving his sense
37:39of pitch
37:39and somatogyral
37:41involving his sense
37:42of roll.
37:44Spatial disorientation
37:45is a factor
37:46in about 30%
37:48of fatal helicopter crashes.
37:51This rotating chair
37:53helps pilots
37:54experience the effect
37:55of the leans.
37:57The inability
37:57to recognize
37:58that you are
37:59in a steep turn.
38:00When a pilot
38:00starts to turn
38:01the fluid
38:02in the inner ear
38:02responds
38:03and it's telling
38:04he or she is
38:04in a turn.
38:05But after a while
38:06the fluid sort of settles
38:08so it actually feels
38:09as if they're
38:09flying level again.
38:11This pilot
38:12is using his thumbs
38:13to show the direction
38:14he believes he's turning.
38:16For the first few seconds
38:17he's right
38:17but as the fluid
38:19in his ear settles
38:20he no longer
38:21senses the turn.
38:24This is the
38:25identical illusion
38:26that Ara Zabajan
38:27experienced.
38:28It's why
38:29he never realized
38:30that he had entered
38:31a gradual left turn
38:32once he lost sight
38:33of the highway below
38:34even though
38:35his instruments
38:36would have been
38:36telling him
38:37precisely that.
38:38We train them here
38:39to really trust
38:40their instruments
38:41and to really be
38:42focused on their instruments
38:43especially in situations
38:45of low visibility.
38:47But the heart
38:49of TNO's facility
38:50is this simulator
38:51called Desdemona.
38:52Okay so here's
38:54what's going to happen.
38:55You just have to wait
38:56for our mark
38:56and then you just have
38:58to level the aircraft
38:59but you have to do that
39:00without the instruments
39:01so only based
39:02on your gut feeling.
39:04It's a disorientation
39:05demonstrator
39:06which safely simulates
39:08the effects
39:08of pitch and roll
39:09illusions on pilots.
39:12It's the only one
39:13in the world.
39:18Okay Master
39:19so first
39:19you're just going to fly
39:20a little bit
39:21to get acquainted
39:22with the controls
39:22so right?
39:23So yeah
39:24so you have the instruments
39:25available.
39:26Yep.
39:27Okay let's start
39:27the simulation.
39:29Unlike simulators
39:30that are attached
39:31to the ground
39:32Desdemona can simulate
39:33unlimited degrees
39:35of pitch,
39:36yaw and roll
39:37as well as
39:38the forces of acceleration.
39:40It's really important
39:41to have a simulator
39:41that can really
39:42create
39:43a constant force
39:45or a constant force
39:45that feels like acceleration.
39:48Do you decline?
39:49Do you incline?
39:50Pilot Martin Kemner
39:51is about to experience
39:52the same sensation
39:54that Zobayan felt
39:55moments before the crash.
39:57The instruments
39:58in the simulator
39:59are turned off
40:00so he must rely
40:02only on feel.
40:04Martin, how are you
40:05feeling now?
40:06I'm feeling straight
40:07and level.
40:07Let's ramp up
40:08the acceleration
40:09and see how that feels.
40:10Now we're starting
40:13the centrifuge
40:14and the cabin
40:15of the simulator
40:16is pointing
40:16towards the center
40:17so for Martin
40:19this actually
40:19just feels like
40:20he's accelerating
40:21forward.
40:23The acceleration
40:24causes him
40:25to mistake
40:25what is actually
40:26happening.
40:28Okay Martin,
40:29what are you feeling
40:30now?
40:30A bit pitched up.
40:32And what do you think
40:33that the aircraft
40:33is doing now?
40:34We're climbing now.
40:36If you're accelerating
40:37forwards
40:38the little hairs
40:39in your inner ear
40:40will actually
40:41give a constant signal
40:42that is the same
40:43as if you're
40:44being pitched up.
40:47We're climbing
40:48to 4,000
40:49to echo x-ray.
40:50It's the exact
40:51illusion that
40:52caused Ara Zabayan
40:53to believe
40:54he was still
40:54climbing
40:55when his
40:56helicopter
40:56was in a
40:57steep descent.
41:00So can you
41:01now bring
41:01the nose
41:02back to level?
41:03Yep, sure.
41:04So you can see
41:04that he's bringing
41:05the nose
41:05below the horizon.
41:07For him
41:07this actually
41:08feels level.
41:10So shall we
41:10show him
41:11the instruments?
41:12Oh my god.
41:13I'm 20 degrees
41:14nose down.
41:15Okay,
41:16can you recover?
41:17Yeah.
41:17We hope
41:19that this helps
41:19them to recognize
41:20spatial disorientation
41:22when it occurs.
41:23Technically
41:23we also hope
41:24to teach them
41:24some skills
41:25that help
41:25them to manage
41:26spatial disorientation
41:27if it occurs.
41:28Wow.
41:29That was it.
41:30It was crazy.
41:34I believe
41:35that as a tribute
41:36to the victims
41:37of this accident
41:38the industry
41:38needs to realize
41:39how common
41:40and sinister
41:41these effects
41:41can be
41:42and develop
41:43better safety
41:43standards.
41:45As a result
41:46of NTSB
41:47recommendations
41:48the Federal Aviation
41:50Administration
41:50is evaluating
41:51tools like
41:52Desdemona
41:53that can be
41:53used to train
41:54more pilots
41:55how to recognize
41:56and cope with
41:57the effects
41:58of disorientation.
42:00The last thing
42:00NTSB wants to do
42:01is go back
42:02and investigate
42:03this kind of accident
42:04all over again
42:05and through the death
42:07of this person
42:08and people on board
42:09hopefully this will be
42:10the one to help
42:11improve safety.
42:13Time will tell.
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