Kobe Bryant, Gianna survived helicopter crash impact and suffered 'pain and anguish' before death, lawsuit claims
Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna might have initially survived the helicopter crash that killed them and seven others, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Vanessa Bryant. Kobe, 41, Gianna, 13, and seven other people, Payton Chester, 13, John Altobelli, 56, Alyssa Altobelli, 14, Keri Altobelli, 46, Sarah Chester, 45, and Christina Mauser, 38 as well as pilot Ara Zobayan, 50, died after their helicopter crashed into a mountainside in Calabasas, California, on January 26.
On Monday, February 24, the day of the public memorial service for Kobe and Gianna, Vanessa filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Island Express Helicopters Inc., the company that operated the helicopter, and alleged the pair suffered "pain and anguish" between the time of the crash and their deaths.
The suit, which names Vanessa and her surviving daughters as plaintiffs, is seeking damages her husband and daughter "may have suffered between the time of injury and the time of death and for the recovery of which the deceased might have maintained an action had death not ensued including, but not limited to, mental anguish, physical disability, conscious pain and suffering, pre-impact terror, disfigurement, and further considering the aggravating circumstances attendant upon the fatal injury."
MEAWW previously reported that a death certificate from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health had stated that the basketball star died in a "commercial helicopter crash", with the "time interval between onset and death" cited as "rapid."
In a previous press release, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner had said they had identified Kobe Bryant, and three of the other victims, John Altobelli, Sarah Chester, and pilot Ara Zobayan, through their fingerprints. They said the other five victims, Gianna, Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Sarah Chester, and Christina Mauser, required "round-the-clock testing and analysis of DNA."
In the lawsuit, Vanessa also accused Zayoban of being reckless, stating he was going 180 miles per hour in the heavy fog in a steep decline, failed to properly monitor and assess the weather prior to takeoff, failed to obtain proper weather data prior to the flight, failed to abort the flight when he knew of the cloudy condition, failed to maintain control of the helicopter and failed to avoid "natural obstacles" in the flight path.
It also accused Island Express Helicopters Inc. of engaging in unnecessary and needlessly risky means of transportation under the circumstances and asked for damages for "pre-impact terror" — for the emotional trauma Kobe and Gigi suffered as Zobayan struggled to get out of the clouds before the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash and the Los Angeles County Coroner's final autopsy will determine if Gianna and Bryant survived the impact. While Vanessa is the only one to have filed a lawsuit against Island Express Helicopters Inc. so far, it's being reported that the families of other victims have hired attorneys as well.