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On 26 January 2020, a helicopter carrying basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people crashes into hilly terrain near Calabasas, California, killing all 9 people on board. The pilot had violated visual flight rules and suffered spatial disorientation.
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00:00Breaking news, five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash.
00:11A high-profile aviation accident devastates Los Angeles.
00:16I'm just at a last forage right now.
00:18NTSB investigators quickly inspect the wreckage.
00:22All the mechanical systems and electronic systems appear to be working fine.
00:26The data provides a detailed picture of the entire flight.
00:30So they get airborne just after nine, and then they get held up for 12 minutes.
00:34Number two, echo x-ray, hold outside Burbank airspace.
00:37Okay, we'll hold outside Burbank.
00:39Certainly this added to the time of the flight.
00:42He's bombing along here at about 140 knots.
00:46Investigators must consider the unthinkable.
00:49Was he trying to make up for the last time?
00:51A lot of people wondered if Kobe being Kobe might have put pressure on this pilot.
00:55But there's no evidence to support that suspicion.
00:59So what happened to this guy?
01:00Hey, Rick.
01:27So 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.
01:36What's the visibility of Burbank?
01:38Broken clouds with five-mile visibility.
01:40We're good to go.
01:42Ara Zabayan is a helicopter pilot with more than 8,000 flying hours.
01:47They'll be here in about 15 minutes.
01:48I'll meet them here and help get them loaded.
01:50Roger that.
01:50He's the chief pilot for Island Express, a helicopter charter company based in California's Los Angeles County.
01:58Island Express is a family-owned company that's been in Southern California for a number of decades.
02:03And they're known as a company that can provide VIP helicopter service.
02:08Amongst 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.
02:20Kobe Bryant was one of the best basketball players of all time.
02:25He's an iconic Los Angeles Laker.
02:27He was drafted by the team in 1996 when he was 17 years old.
02:31He became the heart and soul of the team for 20 years.
02:33He won five world championships.
02:35He went to the All-Star Game 18 times.
02:37And really just became a huge star in his own right, apart from the team, and that he was recognized simply by his first name, Kobe.
02:45How's everyone doing today?
02:47Ara Zabayan has flown Kobe and his family dozens of times.
02:51Let's get going.
02:54Kobe 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.
03:08It's configured to carry eight passengers.
03:11The Sikorsky S-76B is sort of like an air limousine in that it's quite common for VIP travel.
03:19I think heads of state use it in different countries, and it's also used as sort of an air ambulance in some situations.
03:25It's spacious and reliable.
03:27It's really considered about as safe as they come.
03:29Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and six others are headed to a basketball tournament near Camarillo, 80 miles away.
03:40Kobe is the team's coach, Gianna the star player.
03:46Today'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.
04:02Hey, everyone. It's about to get loud back there.
04:11Copter 72 Echo X-ray, Island Express, for East 1 departure.
04:15Helicopter 72 Echo X-ray, cleared for departure from Island Express.
04:19Have a good flight.
04:20Good flight to Echo X-ray.
04:21Just after 9 a.m., the helicopter lifts off from Santa Ana.
04:30The destination is Kobe Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy.
04:34It's a regular journey for Zabayan.
04:37He flew this same group there and back yesterday.
04:41He was a very experienced pilot.
04:43He was able to fly the helicopter at speed, at low altitude, in a very dense airspace, and deal with weather at the same time.
04:51Since his early days as a player, Kobe Bryant has preferred helicopter travel to the crowded freeways of Southern California.
05:01He routinely uses helicopters for his personal and professional travel.
05:07Kobe loved to fly by helicopter just because he loved how much time it saved him.
05:11Kurt Dietz also flew for Island Express.
05:15Flying in LA is like nowhere else.
05:18There is a large congestion of multiple types of airspace in a small area.
05:26So 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.
05:38Burbank Helicopter 7-2 Echo X-ray Sikorsky Helicopter approaching the zoo for a 101 westbound transition.
05:45Zabayan requests permission to pass through Burbank's airspace.
05:49It's a very busy airport, and the controllers, they know what they're doing.
05:55November 7-2 Echo X-ray, Burbank Tower.
05:57Burbank Class Charlie is IFR.
05:59Say intentions.
06:01Burbank is only accepting IFR flights, or instrument flight rules, which requires pilots to navigate solely on instruments.
06:10Zabayan, however, is only authorized to fly using visual flight reference, or VFR.
06:15The threshold for the visual flight is normally three miles.
06:20The Burbank Airport was two and a half miles.
06:24With insufficient visibility for VFR, the controller denies his request.
06:30But Zabayan's been flying helicopters in Southern California long enough to know a way around this restriction.
06:36Asking for special VFR transition to the 101 westbound.
06:39A special VFR allows him to operate at lower than standard visibilities, down to one mile visibility.
06:50And that's an agreement you have with the tower, saying, I'm here, I want to go there, I'm requesting a special VFR.
06:59Special VFR allows Zabayan to navigate visually through the area of low visibility.
07:04November 2, Echo X-ray, hold outside Burbank Airspace.
07:09I have an aircraft going around and an inbound citation.
07:12The controller authorizes Zabayan to cross into Burbank Airspace.
07:17But 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.
07:28Hey everyone, we'll have to circle here for a few minutes while we wait for a few planes to get out of our way.
07:33It shouldn't delay us too much.
07:37Anytime you have a hold, it puts a great deal of pressure on you as a pilot, because you're going to be late.
07:43Finally, after holding for 12 minutes, the Burbank Airspace clears and Zabayan is allowed to pass through.
07:56November 2, Echo X-ray, cleared through Burbank, maintained special VFR.
08:00Copy that, we'll maintain special VFR.
08:02Copter 2, Echo X-ray.
08:03From 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.
08:19Landmarks for flying aircraft in L.A. is really important.
08:25Kobe Bryant and the other passengers are anticipated to arrive in Camarillo just a few minutes behind schedule.
08:31Van Nuys, helicopter 2, Echo X-ray with you for the special VFR transition.
08:37Helicopter 7-2, Echo X-ray, cleared into Van Nuys along the 118 freeway westbound.
08:44The helicopter is cleared to pass through the airspace near Van Nuys.
08:51Zabayan now dials in the final controller for this journey.
08:55The Southern California Radar Approach Controller, who will handle the flight until it reaches Camarillo.
09:01SoCal Helicopter 7-2, Echo X-ray with you at 570 to Camarillo.
09:05Helicopter 7-2, Echo X-ray, SoCal Approach.
09:09Roger, are you just going to stay down that low all the way to Camarillo?
09:12The helicopter is flying 570 feet above the ground.
09:18Yes, sir.
09:18Low altitude to Echo X-ray.
09:20Zabayan needs to stay below the clouds, which are around 1,000 feet above the ground.
09:27The way he went was the lowest route a mile because of the weather.
09:33Roger, I'm going to lose radar with you shortly.
09:35But at the low altitude in hilly terrain, controllers won't be able to maintain radar contact with the flight.
09:45The controllers would not see him on radar, he was so low.
09:49Copy that.
09:50Two Echo X-ray.
09:50Less than 10 minutes from his destination, the visibility gets worse.
10:07In the Los Angeles basin area, it's well known to get this marine layer of colder water, temperatures, warmer air,
10:16where you'll get these low clouds and you'll get lower visibilities.
10:21Zabayan radios in his intention to climb above some low clouds.
10:27We're going to go ahead and start our climb to go above the layers.
10:29Two Echo X-ray, uh, where are you?
10:42Uh, just west of Van Nuys, Two Echo X-ray.
10:46Two Echo X-ray, ident.
10:49The controller hasn't been tracking the helicopter.
10:52He needs Zabayan to flash his transponder signal so he can locate it on his screen.
10:57You press a button on your transponder, and that flash is on their radar screen so they know where you are.
11:04Ident.
11:10Two Echo X-rays, same intentions?
11:12Uh, we're climbing to 4,000, two Echo X-ray.
11:17And what are you going to do when you reach altitude?
11:27In the hills near Calabasas, witnesses see a helicopter emerge from the clouds and hit the ground.
11:43The team tracking Kobe Bryant's flight realizes something's gone wrong.
11:56The helicopter should have landed at Camarillo by now.
12:00It has disappeared from their flight tracker.
12:02We have some breaking news.
12:05A helicopter crash in Southern California.
12:08Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies responding to reports of that crash just before 10 a.m. Pacific time.
12:15It's located in the Calabasas area.
12:18It doesn't take long before the media is reporting the tragic news.
12:22Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, along with seven other people, have been killed in the helicopter crash.
12:29It's just one of those things where you can read the words and you kind of process them, but you don't really.
12:37It's hard for it to sink in because you've got to think about that he's never coming back.
12:42He was the guy.
12:43He was my icon, my role model, who got me into the sport, who got me playing.
12:48I'm just at a loss for words right now.
12:51You won't see another player like him again.
12:54He will be missed.
12:55There is this tremendous outpouring of grief in Los Angeles.
13:00People flocked to Staples Center, left all kinds of different mementos.
13:06This is much bigger than basketball, I think, just because I think Kobe was a real symbol, you know, of just hard work and dedication.
13:15Everybody was really just heartsick by what happened.
13:18Love you, Kobe. Love you, Gigi, and all the family.
13:21We're here to conduct a safety investigation.
13:30And our mission is not to just determine what happened, but why it happened and how it happened to prevent a similar accident from ever happening again.
13:40The NTSB begins its investigation at the crash site, looking for any clues to explain why a state-of-the-art helicopter, being flown by a highly experienced pilot, crashed 24 miles short of its destination.
13:56The first thing you do to do with the crash site is try to see did all the components make it to the crash site.
14:04Was there any kind of mechanical failure?
14:06You know, did a rotor blade break or a tail rotor come off?
14:10The team uses a drone to scan the accident site and study the shape of the debris.
14:15Looking at this accident site, it's very clear.
14:19This was a relatively high rate of descent.
14:21The helicopter hit and the wreckage then bounced about 90 feet to where it came to a rest.
14:27So there was a lot more vertical speed here than you have at horizontal speed.
14:33And all the parts of the helicopter made it to the accident site.
14:36Investigators study flight control surfaces, the engines and rotors, as well as the helicopter's flight instruments.
14:49Examination of the components found that there was no evidence of any pre-impact failures,
14:55that all the mechanical systems, electronic systems, everything at that time appeared to be working fine.
15:00The NTSB's Bill English has led investigations into some of the world's most notorious aviation accidents.
15:09We need to cover all our bases on this one.
15:13Knowing that there was a high-profile person on board,
15:15obviously NTSB responded with a major investigations team.
15:20Okay.
15:21He takes off at 907, he flies northwest.
15:24To better understand what happened,
15:27investigators pieced together a detailed flight path from an ADS-B system that's on board the Sikorsky helicopter.
15:36ADS-B data is like transponder data.
15:40Controllers can see, it's recorded,
15:42your airspeed, altitude, and headings, other information.
15:46And so you have this plotting capability.
15:49Looks like there's some kind of hold here at Burbank.
15:52And 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.
16:01You would see this turn to the left, where he's coming back around or doing something.
16:06And that question is now in the investigation.
16:10What's exactly the pilot doing here?
16:13Let's take a look at the visibility.
16:15They study visibility reports from weather stations along the route.
16:20He did manage to avoid the worst of it here.
16:23A bit socked in near Burbank and Van Nuys, but nothing he can't get through.
16:27He had four miles of visibility.
16:32When he got near Burbank Airport, it was two and a half miles visibility.
16:35That's still totally flyable for him.
16:38In fact, by his operations specifications, he could go down to one mile visibility.
16:42Okay, I get it if the visibility was down to zero.
16:46But this wasn't that bad.
16:48So what happened to this guy?
16:50Why do we have a high-time pilot in an aircraft that's capable of flight,
16:55and visibility conditions he should have been able to handle,
16:58either lose control or somehow inadvertently fly his helicopter to the ground?
17:03That becomes the key piece of this investigation.
17:05We need to figure out what he could actually see.
17:15We have a request for the public.
17:17We're looking for photos of the weather in the area of the crash.
17:24If you could send those photos to witness at ntsb.gov.
17:31Investigators make a plea to the public for evidence
17:34regarding the Island Express helicopter crash
17:36that took the lives of Kobe Bryant and eight others.
17:41They're looking for clues to explain how the pilot, Ara Zabayan,
17:45ended up hitting a hillside on a route he knew well.
17:49More than 8,300 flying hours.
17:52Instructor on the S-76.
17:55Chief pilot at Island Express.
17:58Apparently Kobe's favorite pilot.
18:00Bit of a superstar.
18:01This pilot was not a rookie who just got his license.
18:08He was one of L.A.'s top helicopter pilots,
18:11working for one of its top companies
18:14with some of its most high-profile clients.
18:17Records show that at 7 a.m. on the morning of the flight,
18:21Zabayan checked the weather for his pre-flight risk assessment
18:24and determined that even though there were low-hanging clouds
18:27blanketing the area, the flight was low-risk.
18:31A risk assessment is weather, anxiety, sleep.
18:37All these factors are going to a flight.
18:40But a low-lying cloud layer surrounding Los Angeles,
18:43known as a marine layer,
18:45forced Zabayan to alter his regular, more direct route.
18:48Because of the weather,
18:52he'd flew more inland than he normally does.
18:54Sort of a backdoor way in to where they were going.
18:58Based on the forecast, his plan was okay.
19:00Pretty good visibility all along the way.
19:04So what went wrong?
19:07Investigators need to understand
19:08the exact conditions Zabayan flew into
19:11in the final moments of the flight.
19:15These are three separate cameras
19:17all facing south toward the 101.
19:19Couldn't ask for a better view.
19:21The NTSB's plea for pictures of the weather pays off.
19:25A nearby baseball facility had surveillance cameras
19:28pointed at key sections of the flight path
19:30as the helicopter flew past.
19:32Let's see what this one shows on a clear day.
19:36Investigators compare images
19:38from the same camera taken on a clear day
19:40to images recorded at the time of the accident.
19:44Yeah, perfect.
19:45Okay, so one minute before the accident,
19:48the helicopter would be bombing along here.
19:50Can't see it.
19:51How close did it get to the camera?
19:54Best view of it would be here.
19:58That's 4,400 feet.
19:59The helicopter is less than a mile from the camera,
20:03but isn't visible.
20:04Okay, so what about larger objects?
20:06These hills, for instance.
20:08Visible on a clear day,
20:11but not at the time of the crash.
20:13That hilltop is 8,000 feet away.
20:17So visibility beneath the clouds
20:18was less than 8,000 feet.
20:20It's a mile and a half.
20:22The video study tells investigators
20:24that around the time of the accident,
20:26Zobayan would not have been able to see
20:28any further than one and a half miles.
20:30You're only allowed to fly invisibility
20:34one mile or greater.
20:38Mile and a half?
20:40Pretty low.
20:42Pretty, uh...
20:43Pretty minimal.
20:45Investigators know Zobayan would have been able
20:48to fly safely below the clouds
20:50with one and a half mile visibility.
20:51So Waterfield was actually above the cloud base.
20:56But he was only...
20:57450 feet above the ground.
21:01The cloud ceiling,
21:02the base of the cloud layer,
21:04was reported to be 1,100 feet near Van Nuys.
21:08But Zobayan was flying about 450 feet above the ground,
21:12which would put him well below the clouds.
21:15These are images from the camera
21:17on the 101 facing west.
21:20Okay.
21:21You can just make him out here,
21:23actually heading into fairly heavy clouds.
21:26Same camera, three seconds later,
21:28he's disappeared.
21:30And then we have a witness
21:31who says that she saw the helicopter disappear
21:33into what she described as
21:35the thick wall of heavy clouds.
21:38The NTSB had quite a few very good witnesses,
21:41in my opinion,
21:42and they also had cameras in the area
21:44so they could collect data in real time
21:47of what this pilot would have been encountering.
21:50Their surveillance data shows him
21:52only 450 feet above the ground.
21:56So the cloud base was no more than
21:58450 feet above the ground,
22:00not the 1,100 feet,
22:01which was being reported along its route.
22:06The report at an airport five miles away
22:09can be greatly different
22:11than what you're encountering
22:12because of uplifting winds
22:14and that type of thing around the hills.
22:17The area near Calabasas
22:19has its own unique climate.
22:21The Malibu Canyon can channel fog up
22:24from the Pacific Ocean.
22:25That fog is known to pull
22:27precisely where Zubayan was seen
22:29flying into clouds.
22:30The fog gathers here at Murrow Road
22:34and this is where our witnesses
22:36saw him enter the clouds.
22:38Investigators have determined
22:40that just over a minute before the accident,
22:43Zubayan flew into dense clouds
22:45that would have reduced his visibility
22:46to near zero.
22:47That clinches it.
22:50He flew into IMC.
22:51IMC, Instrument Meteorological Conditions,
22:58is when visibility is so poor
22:59that pilots need to fly only on instruments.
23:04They were only authorized to fly
23:05under visual flight rules.
23:07Legally, he's not allowed to enter it.
23:09He's only allowed to go in visual conditions only.
23:12And yet he did.
23:14In aviation, there's a term for VFR pilots
23:17who fly into low visibility conditions.
23:19It's called an inadvertent encounter with IMC.
23:23It can happen at night.
23:25We fly into a cloud that you didn't see.
23:27It can happen that you're choosing
23:29to avoid something
23:30and you inadvertently go into a cloud.
23:33Unfortunately, it's an accident happens
23:34way too often.
23:36Inadvertent IMC is a leading cause
23:39of aviation accidents over the past 10 years.
23:42More than 80% of them are fatal.
23:44You can't see where the horizon is
23:46and you can't see the sky from the ground.
23:49You don't know visually
23:50which is our main sense.
23:52You have to rely on secondary senses
23:54such as sense of balance.
23:56And there are illusions that come up.
23:59An inadvertent encounter
24:00with instrument conditions
24:02is so potentially dangerous
24:04that pilots are trained
24:05to do whatever they can to avoid it.
24:07How did he let himself get into this situation?
24:16Let's see his speeds and altitudes.
24:19The data from the ADS-B
24:22gives investigators a detailed picture
24:24of the helicopter's altitude and speed
24:26as it approached Calabasas.
24:28If Sir Bayan tried to avoid the worsening conditions,
24:31the data would show it.
24:33He's bombing along here at about 140 knots.
24:37Visibility's getting worse and worse,
24:39but he's not slowing down.
24:41He's not turning around.
24:42He just keeps going.
24:43He could have turned around,
24:52landed at Van Nuys.
24:54He could have circled for a while,
24:56were near the airport,
24:57waiting for the conditions to improve.
24:59For whatever reason we don't know,
25:01he chose none of those options.
25:02The team now considers
25:05the widely held belief
25:07that Sir Bayan was pressured
25:08to continue the flight
25:09by his high-profile passenger.
25:13A lot of people wondered
25:14after the crash happened
25:15if Kobe, being Kobe,
25:17might have put pressure on this pilot
25:18to get to where he wanted to go,
25:20because that's the whole reason
25:21that he was taking the helicopter
25:22in the first place,
25:23is to get from point A to point B
25:25and do it without any unnecessary delays.
25:28The same passengers
25:29take the same flight
25:30the day before the accident.
25:32They're scheduled to take off
25:34at 9.45,
25:35but Kobe changes that to 9.
25:39They moved it up by 45 minutes
25:41so that Kobe could watch
25:43another team or teams play
25:44in preparation for his daughter's
25:46basketball tournament on Sunday.
25:49So they get airborne just after 9,
25:52and then this happens.
25:55They're held up for 12 minutes.
25:58November 2, Echo X-ray,
25:59hauled outside Burbank Airspace.
26:01I have an aircraft going around
26:02in an inbound citation.
26:04Investigators know that Kobe's helicopter
26:06was held up at Burbank for 12 minutes
26:08while Zabayan waited for traffic
26:10to clear the controlled airspace.
26:12Okay, we'll hold outside Burbank.
26:14Two Echo X-ray.
26:18A little more than 10 minutes later,
26:21Zabayan flew into thick cloud cover
26:23at a speed of 160 miles an hour
26:26as he approached Camarillo.
26:28In my opinion, 140 knots
26:30is probably twice the speed
26:32he should have been operating
26:33in those visual conditions.
26:34He should have slowed down.
26:36Was he trying to make up
26:38for the last time?
26:39The team digs into Kobe Bryant's
26:41previous flights with Island Express
26:43to see if there's any history
26:44of him putting pressure on pilots.
26:46He took 26 flights
26:48with Island Express last year.
26:50Not once did he pressure a pilot
26:51to keep going.
26:56Kobe would never put pressure on a pilot.
26:59I flew him for two years.
27:01Not once was there ever
27:03any amount of pressure from him.
27:08Investigators find no evidence
27:10that Kobe Bryant or any member
27:12of his team put pressure on Zabayan
27:14to continue the flight.
27:15They had a history.
27:16They scrutinized Kobe Bryant's relationship
27:20with Ara Zabayan
27:21for anything that could have affected
27:22the pilot's behavior
27:23on the day of the accident.
27:26More than history.
27:27The director of operations
27:28says that Kobe's relationship
27:30with Ara was, quote,
27:32warm and friendly.
27:33That he trusted Ara
27:34with his girls and his family.
27:37And that they always wanted Ara.
27:39The company's VP says that
27:41their relationship was
27:42more like a friendship.
27:44And that Kobe would call him
27:45Mr. Pilot Man.
27:46These guys sure were tight.
27:50The relationship may have been
27:51pressure enough.
27:55How's everyone doing today?
27:57Investigators conclude
27:59that Zabayan's close relationship
28:00with Kobe Bryant
28:01may have led to self-induced pressure
28:04to get him to his destination.
28:06Part of the concern here
28:08is that the pilot
28:09was trying to complete the mission
28:11in part to satisfy the client.
28:13Investigators soon find
28:17another important factor
28:19that may have influenced
28:20Zabayan's decision-making.
28:22Six minutes before the crash,
28:23he clears Van Nuys' airspace
28:25and heads south.
28:26Tells controllers that he planned
28:27to stay low all the way
28:28to Camarillo.
28:30Stay below clouds.
28:31Are you just going to stay down
28:35that low all the way
28:35to Camarillo?
28:37Yes, sir.
28:37Low altitude.
28:38Two minutes later,
28:41he starts following
28:42the 101,
28:43which should lead him
28:44straight into Camarillo.
28:45He bounds along the 101
28:46for two more minutes
28:47until he hits
28:49this wall of clouds.
28:5324 miles to go.
28:54He's almost there.
28:58Almost.
28:59Zabayan was less than
29:0010 minutes away
29:01from getting his passengers
29:02to their destination.
29:04When you're close to finishing,
29:05you have a tendency
29:06to be willing to tolerate
29:08conditions that might have
29:09caused you not to take
29:10the trip originally.
29:12The team believes Zabayan
29:14was suffering from a condition
29:15known as plan continuation bias
29:17when he decided to keep going
29:19despite deteriorating
29:21weather conditions.
29:22Plan continuation bias
29:25is an unconscious bias
29:27to continue with
29:28the original plan
29:29even when conditions change.
29:31But in an aviation environment,
29:33it can be deadly.
29:35It doesn't take long
29:36for things to start going wrong
29:37as soon as he enters that cloud.
29:39Instead of turning around,
29:41Zabayan decides
29:42to climb above the clouds.
29:44We're going to go ahead
29:45and start our climb
29:45to go above the layers.
29:49He starts banking
29:50further and further left,
29:52descends rapidly,
29:54hits the hill here.
29:56The pilot's unusual actions
29:58lead investigators to wonder
29:59about the level of training
30:00he received.
30:03He was trained to avoid IMC
30:05and what to do
30:06if he got into it.
30:08They discover that Zabayan
30:10was well-trained
30:11to escape the precise conditions
30:13he flew into.
30:13This pilot trained routinely
30:18for inadvertent IMC situation.
30:20More than that,
30:21he was the chief pilot
30:22of the company.
30:23He set the safety standards
30:25for all the pilots
30:26and he trained them
30:27on how to deal
30:29with instrument conditions.
30:31This is what he was taught.
30:32A review of Zabayan's training
30:34shows that he was taught
30:35to reduce his speed,
30:38use the autopilot
30:39to climb above the clouds,
30:40and then declare an emergency.
30:43His training was good.
30:45But did Zabayan
30:47follow his training?
30:50Here he's entering
30:51an area of low visibility,
30:52still flying
30:53well above 100 knots,
30:55no evidence of slowing down.
30:57Investigators know
30:58Zabayan did not reduce speed.
31:00They now wonder
31:01if he engaged the autopilot.
31:03Play.
31:04We're going to go ahead
31:05and start our climb
31:06to go above the layers.
31:07Look at that rate of climb.
31:091,500 feet a minute.
31:11Can't be the autopilot
31:12doing that.
31:13That exceeds the authority
31:15of the autopilot system.
31:16Therefore, this climb
31:17was being manually controlled.
31:19All right.
31:20Well, at this point,
31:21he's just trying to get
31:21above the clouds
31:22without the autopilot.
31:25The higher Zabayan climbs
31:27into the dense cloud,
31:28the worse the visibility gets.
31:30But he never asks for help.
31:32Well, he never reports
31:33an emergency
31:34and never mentions
31:35being an IMC.
31:36And the one thing
31:39he should have been saying,
31:41mayday, mayday, mayday,
31:42clear an emergency,
31:44isn't for an IMC.
31:46He didn't slow down,
31:48he didn't use his autopilot,
31:50and never declared
31:50an emergency.
31:52He ignored all his training.
31:53There are basic procedures
31:56that should be followed,
31:58and you have to have
31:59a very cautious approach
32:00to any sort of
32:01instrument conditions.
32:02This was not evident
32:03in the way the pilot
32:04flew that day.
32:05By ignoring his training,
32:11Zabayan found himself
32:12in a rapid climb
32:13with no visibility
32:14and without the help
32:16of the autopilot.
32:17Prime conditions
32:18for becoming
32:19spatially disoriented.
32:22Anne-Marie Landman
32:23studies the effects
32:24of spatial disorientation
32:25in pilots.
32:26If you take away
32:27outside visual reference
32:28from a pilot,
32:29then he or she
32:30will really have to
32:31trust the instruments.
32:33Because if you don't have
32:34outside visual reference,
32:35then any sensation
32:37that you feel
32:37can be very misleading.
32:40Did Ara Zabayan
32:41suffer the effects
32:42of disorientation
32:43after flying
32:43into dense clouds?
32:46Two echo x-rays
32:46say intentions.
32:48Zabayan's last words
32:50show that's precisely
32:51what happened.
32:52We're climbing
32:53to 4,000,
32:54two echo x-ray.
32:55Did you hear that?
32:56It's like he completely
32:57lost his bearings.
33:00The recording
33:01tells investigators
33:02that Zabayan believed
33:03he was climbing
33:04when he was actually
33:06descending rapidly
33:07towards the ground
33:08in a steep left turn.
33:11It's what aviators
33:12call the graveyard spiral.
33:16So right in that aircraft?
33:18No.
33:18In a mountainous area,
33:20you're done.
33:21You're absolutely done.
33:22The team has pieced together
33:24a picture of a pilot
33:25who flew into prime conditions
33:27for causing disorientation.
33:30Zabayan's problem
33:31starts just after
33:31he flies into the cloud.
33:33He decides the best thing
33:34to do is to fly above it.
33:36But as he climbs,
33:37visibility worsens,
33:39and his reference
33:40to the highway below
33:41and the horizon ahead
33:42quickly disappear.
33:44It's all but impossible
33:45for pilots to determine
33:47a plane's pitch and roll
33:48without a visual reference
33:50to their surroundings.
33:52Without visual cues,
33:53the human body
33:54is unable to maintain
33:55its spatial bearings.
33:57The result
33:57is disorientation.
34:01As the highway below
34:02veers left,
34:03Zabayan tries to stay with it.
34:05He puts the helicopter
34:06into a gradual left turn.
34:09He's not looking
34:09at the instruments
34:10at this point.
34:11He was perhaps
34:12looking down
34:13to search for the highway
34:14that he was following before.
34:15Zabayan now faces
34:21a distraction
34:22that makes the situation
34:23significantly worse.
34:25He is forced
34:26to identify himself
34:27to the controller.
34:29It's not only a distraction,
34:31it forces him
34:32to move his head,
34:33which increases
34:34the risk of disorientation.
34:35We advise pilots
34:39to not move
34:40their head around
34:41when they're flying
34:41without outside
34:42visual reference.
34:43This is moving
34:44the fluid
34:45in your inner ears
34:46and this actually
34:47makes you a little bit
34:48more susceptible
34:48to illusions.
34:50The highway now
34:51veers off to the right,
34:53but he's lost sight of it.
34:54He's banking further
34:55and further to the left
34:56without even realizing it.
34:5830 seconds from impact.
35:01Disorientation sets in.
35:03The turn is so gradual
35:06and it is so slow
35:08that the onset,
35:09it seems that
35:09he's not feeling that.
35:11So for him,
35:12it still feels
35:12that he's flying level.
35:14And he gets to 1,600 feet
35:16and he starts to descend
35:17without even knowing it.
35:19It's clear
35:20that prior to the accident,
35:22the pilot really did not know
35:24what the helicopter was doing
35:25because he was asked
35:27his intentions
35:27and he indicated
35:28that he was climbing
35:29to 4,000 feet.
35:31We're climbing
35:32to 4,000 to Echo X-ray.
35:34At that point,
35:35the helicopter
35:36was not climbing.
35:37It was descending
35:38towards a crash
35:39and the pilot
35:39didn't realize it.
35:42He's now
35:43in a rapid descent
35:44and likely looking
35:45for clear skies above,
35:47not noticing
35:48what his instruments
35:49are showing.
35:49Without having
35:50outside visual references
35:51and not being focused
35:53on your instruments,
35:54it's very easy
35:55for that to happen
35:56and it does happen
35:57far too often.
35:58He's so far over,
36:00it's like he lost
36:00all his lift.
36:01He's plummeting
36:02to the ground.
36:03Graveyard spiral.
36:04Classic.
36:06About a minute
36:06after entering the clouds,
36:07he hits the ground
36:08like this,
36:09almost on his side,
36:10at more than 160 knots.
36:13There's no sign
36:14he ever figured out
36:14what was really happening.
36:15Kobe Bryant
36:20and eight others
36:21died as a result
36:22of an all-too-common scenario.
36:25A helicopter pilot
36:26flying IMC
36:28and becoming disoriented.
36:32We need something
36:33to help pilots
36:34understand that
36:34just because you feel
36:36like your body
36:36is being pushed down
36:37to the sea
36:38doesn't mean you're climbing.
36:40That device exists
36:42and it's helping
36:43train pilots
36:44in the Netherlands.
36:45The one-of-a-kind simulator
36:47lets researchers
36:48reproduce the feeling
36:49of spatial disorientation
36:51without pilots
36:52having to leave the ground.
36:55Okay, Martin,
36:56so how are you feeling now?
36:57I'm feeling bitched up.
36:59You're feeling bitched up?
37:00Yeah.
37:03Investigators
37:03hoping to prevent
37:04the kind of accident
37:05that caused Ara Zubayan
37:07to get so badly disoriented
37:08are looking closely
37:12at the work being done
37:13in labs like this one
37:14at the Netherlands
37:15at the Netherlands
37:15Organization
37:15for Applied Scientific Research
37:17or TNO.
37:20We investigate
37:21the effects
37:22of spatial disorientation
37:23on pilot performance.
37:26Zubayan believed
37:27he was climbing
37:27when he was actually descending
37:29and was unaware
37:30that he was in
37:31a steep left turn.
37:33He was suffering
37:34from two of the most
37:35common illusions
37:36affecting pilots.
37:38somatogravic
37:39involving his sense
37:40of pitch
37:41and somatogyral
37:43involving his sense
37:44of roll.
37:46Spatial disorientation
37:47is a factor
37:48in about 30%
37:50of fatal helicopter crashes.
37:51This rotating chair
37:55helps pilots
37:56experience the effect
37:57of the leans.
37:59The inability
37:59to recognize
38:00that you are
38:00in a steep turn.
38:02When a pilot
38:02starts to turn
38:03the fluid in the inner air
38:04responds
38:05and it's telling
38:06that he or she is
38:06in a turn.
38:07But after a while
38:08the fluid sort of settles
38:10so it actually feels
38:11as if they're flying
38:12level again.
38:13This pilot
38:13is using his thumbs
38:15to show the direction
38:16he believes he's turning.
38:17For the first few seconds
38:19he's right
38:19but as the fluid
38:21in his ear settles
38:22he no longer senses
38:23the turn.
38:26This is the identical
38:27illusion that
38:28Ara Zabayan experienced.
38:30It's why he never
38:31realized that he had
38:32entered a gradual
38:33left turn
38:34once he lost sight
38:35of the highway below
38:36even though his
38:37instruments would have
38:38been telling him
38:39precisely that.
38:40We train them here
38:41to really trust
38:42their instruments
38:43and to really be
38:44focused on their
38:44instruments
38:45especially in
38:46situations of low
38:47visibility.
38:49But the heart
38:50of TNO's facility
38:52is this simulator
38:53called Desdemona.
38:55Okay so here's
38:56what's going to happen.
38:57You just have to
38:57wait for our mark
38:58and then you just
39:00have to level
39:00the aircraft.
39:01But you have to do
39:02that without the
39:02instruments.
39:03So only based
39:04on your gut feeling.
39:05It's a disorientation
39:07demonstrator
39:08which safely simulates
39:10the effects of pitch
39:11and roll illusions
39:12on pilots.
39:14It's the only one
39:15in the world.
39:19Okay Martin so first
39:21you're just going to fly
39:22a little bit to get
39:23acquainted with the
39:24controls all right?
39:25So yeah so you have
39:27the instruments available.
39:28Yep.
39:29Okay let's start the
39:29simulation.
39:31Unlike simulators that
39:33are attached to the
39:33ground Desdemona can
39:35simulate unlimited
39:36degrees of pitch,
39:38yaw and roll as well
39:39as the forces of
39:40acceleration.
39:41It's really important
39:42to have a simulator
39:43that can really create
39:45a constant force
39:46or a constant force
39:47that feels like
39:48acceleration.
39:50Do you decline?
39:51Do you decline?
39:52Pilot Martin Kemner
39:53is about to experience
39:54the same sensation
39:56that Zerbayan felt
39:57moments before the
39:58crash.
39:59The instruments
40:00in the simulator
40:01are turned off
40:02so he must rely
40:04only on feel.
40:06Martin how are you
40:07feeling now?
40:08I'm feeling
40:08straight and level.
40:09Let's ramp up the
40:10acceleration and see
40:12how that feels.
40:14Now we're starting
40:15the centrifuge and
40:17the cabin of the
40:17simulator is pointing
40:18towards the center
40:19so for Martin it
40:21actually just feels
40:22like he's accelerating
40:23forward.
40:25The acceleration
40:26causes him to mistake
40:27what is actually
40:28happening.
40:30Okay Martin what
40:31are you feeling now?
40:32A bit pitched up.
40:34And what do you think
40:35that the aircraft is
40:36doing now?
40:36We're climbing now.
40:38If you're accelerating
40:39forward yeah the little
40:40hairs in your inner
40:42ear will actually give
40:43a constant signal that
40:45is the same as if
40:46you're being pitched
40:47up.
40:49We're climbing to
40:504,000 to echo x-ray.
40:52It's the exact
40:53illusion that caused
40:54Ara Zerbayan to
40:55believe he was still
40:56climbing when his
40:58helicopter was in a
40:59steep descent.
40:59So can you now bring
41:03the nose back to
41:04level?
41:04Yeah sure.
41:06So you can see that
41:06he's bringing the nose
41:07below the horizon.
41:09For him this actually
41:10feels level.
41:12So shall we show him
41:13the instruments?
41:14Oh my god.
41:15I'm 20 degrees nose
41:17down.
41:17Okay can you recover?
41:19Yeah.
41:20We hope that this
41:21helps them to recognize
41:22spatial disorientation
41:24when it occurs.
41:25Technically we also
41:25hope to teach them
41:26some skills that help
41:27them to manage spatial
41:28disorientation if it's
41:29a curse.
41:30Wow.
41:31That was it.
41:31It was crazy.
41:36I believe that as a
41:37tribute to the victims
41:39of this accident the
41:40industry needs to
41:41realize how common and
41:42sinister these effects
41:43can be and develop
41:45better safety standards.
41:47As a result of NTSB
41:49recommendations the
41:51Federal Aviation
41:52Administration is
41:53evaluating tools like
41:54Desdemona that can be
41:55used to train more
41:56pilots how to recognize
41:58and cope with the
41:59effects of disorientation.
42:02The last thing NTSB
42:03wants to do is go back
42:04and investigate this
42:05kind of accident all
42:06over again.
42:08And through the death
42:09of this person and
42:10people on board hopefully
42:12this will be the one to
42:13help improve safety.
42:15Time will tell.