Helicopter in Kobe Bryant crash wasn’t certified for instruments-only flight

The company that owned the helicopter on which Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others were killed Sunday was not certified to fly passengers under instrument flight rules — which is often used during inclement weather — though it was equipped to do so and the pilot was IFR-rated, according to reports.

Ara Zobayan was licensed to fly using instruments alone, but the operating certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration limited Island Express Helicopters’ pilots to fly only under visual flight rules, or VFR, the New York Times reported, citing three sources familiar with the firm’s operations.

On Thursday, the company announced it would suspend all regular and charter services.

The late pilot had received what’s known as “special visual flight rules,” or SVFR, to fly in foggy conditions in the minutes before the Sikorsky S-76B slammed into a suburban Los Angeles hillside, killing all aboard.

Under VFR, pilots must have at least three miles of visibility and a cloud ceiling of no less than 1,000 feet above the ground.

Though the chopper carried IFR-approved instruments, the company did not have certification for their use and Zobayan, who was properly rated, likely had little real-world IFR experience, Kurt Deetz, a former pilot for the company who flew Bryant for two years, told Forbes.

The last radio communication from Zobayan was that he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer.

“I don’t think he had any actual [experience] inside the clouds,” said Deetz, who noted that it can be unnerving for pilots limited to operating under VFR. “You spend your whole career thinking, ‘I shouldn’t do this.’ ”

The FAA’s limitations on Island Express’s operations are not unusual, according to The Times.

Another operator at Van Nuys Airport, where the company is based, told the paper that none of the charter companies there have sought to gain IFR certification, partly because it is usually to navigate at low altitude in Southern California.

Information about Island Express’s certification shed light on why Zobayan did not file an instrument flight plan that would have allowed him to climb well above the fogbound hills and fly to Camarillo Airport, not far from the basketball tourney where Bryant and the others were headed.

“There is only one way you can be in the clouds, on an IFR flight plan or by accident,” Deetz told The Times.

Island Express did not respond on Thursday to questions from the newspaper about its certification. Forbes reported that it reached a company rep who declined to comment.

The company has released a statement saying: “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Our top priority is providing assistance to the families of the passengers and the pilot. We hope that you will respect their privacy at this extremely difficult time.

“The pilot, Ara Zobayan, was our chief pilot. Ara has been with the company for over 10 years and has over 8,000 flight hours.

“We are working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate the cause of the accident and we are grateful to the first responders and local authorities for their response to this unimaginable accident.”