'He could have turned around': Kobe Bryant's pilot shouldn't have flown in severe fog, expert says

'If you get caught in a situation where you can’t see out the windshield, the life expectancy of the pilot and the aircraft is maybe 10, 15 seconds'

Aviation experts have expressed concerns over the decision made by Kobe Bryant’s pilot to fly his helicopter in severe weather conditions on Sunday, before it crashed killing all nine people aboard the aircraft.

“He could have turned around and gone back to a safer place with better visibility," Randy Waldman, a helicopter flight instructor in Los Angeles, California, told the Associated Press following the deadly crash.

“A lot of times somebody who’s doing it for a living is pressured to get their client to where they have to go,” he added. “They take chances that maybe they shouldn’t take.”

Mr Waldman spoke as new questions emerged surrounding the fatal incident involving the late basketball star and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, after it was reported that severe fog and poor visibility had grounded local flights on the morning of the crash.

All nine people aboard the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter died, including the pilot, Ara Zobayan, a highly-experienced 50-year-old flight instructor who was provided special clearances to fly in the foggy conditions.

Other victims included a beloved college baseball coach and multiple families, as well as one of Gianna’s young teammates on a basketball team the two played for.

Audio recordings from before the crash indicate Mr Zobayan had requested flight tracking, which would have allowed Air Traffic Control to monitor his flight path and remain in frequent contact with the aircraft throughout its trip.

But Air Traffic Control radioed to the helicopter that it could not track it at the low levels it was flying.

Mr Zobayan then “advised they were climbing to avoid a cloud layer”, Jennifer Homendy, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said in a statement on Monday. The board has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, which remains unclear.

She added: “When ATC asked what the pilot planned to do, there was no reply.”

Though he said he was ascending to a higher level, the helicopter took a left turn and began to descend into a rugged mountainside, according to statements from federal investigators.

Mr Zobayan was a respected pilot described as “professional and calculated” by those within the aviation community.

He was flying Bryant’s Sikorsky S-76B — often regarded as one of the highest-quality helicopters available for commercial travel — which the former NBA player often used to avoid hours-long travel times between his home in Orange County and the Staples Centre in downtown Los Angeles.

Mr Waldman said the helicopter’s seemingly erratic manoeuvres “means he was completely out of control and in a dive” before the crash occurred.

He added: “Once you get disoriented your body senses completely tell you the wrong thing. You have no idea which way is up or down.”

If you´re flying visually, if you get caught in a situation where you can’t see out the windshield, the life expectancy of the pilot and the aircraft is maybe 10, 15 seconds”, Mr Waldman continued.