Vanessa Bryant and the joint plaintiffs on Tuesday reached a settlement agreement against the company that operated the helicopter in the 2020 in the crash that killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant and seven others, according to KABC7.
Vanessa Bryant filed the wrongful-death suit in February of 2020 against Island Express Helicopters, less than a month after the crash in Calabasas that killed her husband, retired Lakers superstar Kobe, daughter Gianna, as well as Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, Sarah Chester and her daughter Peyton, Mamba Sports Academy coach Christina Mauser and helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan.
Zobayan’s estate was also named as a defendant in the wrongful-death suit, alleging Zobayan "failed to use ordinary care in piloting the subject aircraft” and was “negligent."
The helicopter that was carrying Bryant and the other passengers flew in foggy conditions on Jan. 27, 2020 from Orange County towards Burbank and then west along the 101. The conditions were so poor that even the LA Police Department helicopters were grounded that day.
Zobayan's last communication with air-traffic controllers before the crash indicated that he was climbing to 4,000 feet to get above the cloud cover; however, flight data from the NTSB indicated the helicopter was actually descending at the time while banking to the left, ultimately hitting the ground at a rate of about 4,000 feet per minute.
In February 2021, the National Transportation Safety Board announced the final results of its investigation into the helicopter crash, with officials saying the crash was likely caused by the pilot’s “spatial disorientation.”
According to KABC7, the documents filed by Vanessa Bryant's legal team indicate the Altobelli, Chester and Mauser families, who were also involved in legal actions against the company, were also part of the settlement.