Original subtitles

(explosion)

Breaking news. Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash.

(sirens wailing)

NARRATOR: A high-profile aviation accident devastates Los Angeles.

I’m just at a loss for words right now.

NARRATOR: NTSB investigators quickly inspect the wreckage.

All the mechanical systems, electronic systems, appeared to be working fine.

NARRATOR: The data provides a detailed picture of the entire flight.

SEVILLIAN: So they get airborne just after 9:00, and then,

they get held up for 12 minutes.

ATC: November two, Echo X-ray. Hold outside Burbank airspace.

Okay, we'll hold outside Burbank.

HAUETER: Certainly this added to the time of the flight.

ENGLISH: He’s bombing along here at about 140 knots.

NARRATOR: Investigators must consider the unthinkable.

Was he trying to make up for the lost time?

A lot of people wonder if Kobe, being Kobe,

might've put pressure on this pilot.

NARRATOR: But there’s no evidence to support that suspicion.

So what happened to this guy?

PILOT (over radio): Mayday. Mayday.

GPWS: Pull up.

(indistinct radio transmissions)

Hey Ric.

ZOBAYAN: So I’m gonna go straight north to Dodger Stadium,

around Burbank, and follow the 118 to get up and around the weather down here.

What’s the visibility of Burbank?

Broken clouds, with five-mile visibility. We're good to go.

NARRATOR: Ara Zobayan is a helicopter pilot with more than 8,000 flying hours.

They'll be here in about 15 minutes. I'll meet them here and help get them loaded.

Roger that.

NARRATOR: He’s the chief pilot for Island Express,

a helicopter charter company based in California’s Los Angeles County.

SCHROTENBOER: Island Express is a family-owned company

that’s been in Southern California for a number of decades,

and they’re known as a company that can provide VIP helicopter service.

NARRATOR: Amongst their high-profile regular customers,

media star Kylie Jenner,

LA Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard,

and today’s client, LA Lakers great Kobe Bryant.

SCHROTENBOER: Kobe Bryant was one of the best basketball players of all time.

He’s an iconic Los Angeles Laker.

He was drafted by the team in 1996, when he was 17 years old.

He became the heart and soul of the team for 20 years.

He won five world championships. He went to the All-Star game 18 times,

and really just became a huge star in his own right, apart from the team,

in that he was recognized simply by his first name, Kobe.

How’s everyone doing today?

NARRATOR: Ara Zobayan has flown Kobe and his family dozens of times.

Well, let’s get going.

SCHROTENBOER: Kobe 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.

NARRATOR: Kobe Bryant flies in a luxury Sikorsky S-76B.

It’s configured to carry eight passengers.

SCHROTENBOER: The Sikorsky 76B is sort of like an air limousine

in that it’s quite common for VIP travel.

I think heads of state use it in different countries,

and it’s also used as sort of an air ambulance in some situations.

It’s spacious and reliable. It’s really considered about as safe as they come.

NARRATOR: Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and six others

are headed to a basketball tournament near Camarillo, 80 miles away.

Kobe is the team’s coach; Gianna, the star player.

Today’s 30-minute flight will take the helicopter

north past Burbank and then west towards Camarillo.

Zobayan will follow two highways for guidance,

the 5 northwest and the 101 west to Camarillo.

Hey everyone, it’s about to get loud back there.

(beeping)

Copter seven two Echo X-ray Island Express for east one departure.

ATC 2 (over radio): Helicopter seven two Echo X-ray,

cleared for departure from Island Express, have a good flight.

Good flight, two Echo X-ray.

NARRATOR: Just after 9:00 AM, the helicopter lifts off from Santa Ana.

The destination is Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy.

It’s a regular journey for Zobayan.

He flew this same group there and back yesterday.

BRENNER: He was a very experienced pilot.

He was able to fly the helicopter at speed,

at low altitude, in a very dense airspace, and deal with weather at the same time.

NARRATOR: Since his early days as a player,

Kobe Bryant has preferred helicopter travel

to the crowded freeways of Southern California.

He routinely uses helicopters for his personal and professional travel.

SCHROTENBOER: Kobe loved to fly by helicopter

just because he loved how much time it saved him.

NARRATOR: Kurt Deetz also flew for Island Express.

Flying in L.A. is like nowhere else. There is a large congestion

of multiple type of airspace in a small area.

So you’re always in and out of airspace.

NARRATOR: Today’s flight will first need to pass through

the controlled airspace surrounding Burbank and then Van Nuys.

ZOBAYAN: Burbank, helicopter seven two Echo X-ray,

Sikorsky helicopter, approaching the zoo for a 101 westbound transition.

NARRATOR: Zobayan requests permission to pass through Burbank’s airspace.

It’s a very busy airport, and the controllers, they know what they’re doing.

November seven two Echo X-ray, Burbank tower.

Burbank Class Charlie is IFR. Say intentions.

NARRATOR: Burbank is only accepting IFR flights, or instrument flight rules,

which requires pilots to navigate solely on instruments.

Zobayan, however, is only authorized to fly using visual flight reference, or VFR.

HAUETER: The threshold for visual flight is normally three miles.

The Burbank Airport was two and a half miles.

NARRATOR: With insufficient visibility for VFR, the controller denies his request.

But Zobayan’s been flying helicopters in Southern California long enough

to know a way around this restriction.

Asking for Special VFR transition to the 101 westbound.

HAUETER: A special VFR allows him

to operate at lower than standard visibilities, down to one mile visibility.

DEETZ: And that’s an agreement you have with the tower saying,

"I'm here. I wanna go there. I'm requesting a Special VFR."

NARRATOR: Special VFR allows Zobayan to navigate visually

through the area of low visibility.

November two Echo X-ray, hold outside Burbank airspace.

I have an aircraft going around and an inbound Citation.

NARRATOR: The controller authorizes Zobayan to cross into Burbank airspace,

but under the rules of Special VFR,

he must now wait until the airspace is clear of traffic.

Okay, we’ll hold outside Burbank. Two echo X-ray.

Hey everyone. We’ll have to circle here for a few minutes

while we wait for a few planes to get out of our way.

It shouldn't delay us too much.

Anytime you have a hold,

it puts a great deal of pressure on you as a pilot, because you're gonna be late.

NARRATOR: Finally, after holding for 12 minutes,

the Burbank airspace clears and Zobayan is allowed to pass through.

November two Echo X-ray, cleared through Burbank. Maintain special VFR.

Copy that. We'll maintain special VFR, copter two Echo X-ray.

NARRATOR: From 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.

Landmarks, for flying aircraft in L.A., is really important.

NARRATOR: Kobe Bryant and the other passengers

are anticipated to arrive in Camarillo just a few minutes behind schedule.

Van Nuys, helicopter two Echo X-ray with you for the special VFR transition.

ATC 3 (over radio): Helicopter seven two Echo X-ray,

cleared into Van Nuys along the one 18 freeway westbound.

NARRATOR: The helicopter is cleared to pass through the airspace near Van Nuys.

Zobayan now dials in the final controller for this journey,

the Southern California Radar Approach Controller,

who will handle the flight until it reaches Camarillo.

ZOBAYAN: SoCal, helicopter seven two Echo X-ray with you at five-70 to Camarillo.

ATC 4: Helicopter seven two Echo X-ray, SoCal approach.

Roger, are you just gonna stay down that low all the way to Camarillo?

NARRATOR: The helicopter is flying 570 feet above the ground.

Yes, sir, low altitude, two Echo X-ray.

NARRATOR: Zobayan needs to stay below the clouds,

which are around 1,000 feet above the ground.

The way he went was the lowest route available because of the weather.

Roger. I'm gonna lose radar with you shortly.

NARRATOR: But at the low altitude in hilly terrain,

controllers won’t be able to maintain radar contact with the flight.

The controllers would not see him on radar, he was so low.

Copy that, two Echo-X-ray.

NARRATOR: Less than ten minutes from his destination, the visibility gets worse.

HAUETER: In the Los Angeles Basin area,

it’s well known to get this marine layer of colder water temperatures, warmer air,

where you get these low clouds, and you get lower visibilities.

NARRATOR: Zobayan radios in his intention to climb above some low clouds.

We’re gonna go ahead and start our climb to go above the layers.

ATC 4: Two Echo X-ray, uh, where are ya?

ZOBAYAN: Uh, just west of Van Nuys, two Echo X-ray.

ATC 4: Two Echo X-ray, ident.

NARRATOR: The controller hasn’t been tracking the helicopter.

He needs Zobayan to flash his transponder signal so he can locate it on his screen.

You press a button on your transponder that flashes on their radar screen,

- so they know where you are. - ZOBAYAN: Ident.

Two Echo X-Ray, say intentions.

ZOBAYAN: Uh, we’re climbing to 4,000. Two Echo X-ray.

ATC 4: And what are you gonna do when you reach altitude?

(explosion)

NARRATOR: In the hills near Calabasas,

witnesses see a helicopter emerge from the clouds and hit the ground.

(radio chatter and sirens)

NARRATOR: The team tracking Kobe Bryant’s flight realizes something’s gone wrong.

The helicopter should have landed at Camarillo by now.

It has disappeared from their flight tracker.

We have some breaking news. A helicopter crash in Southern California.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies responding to reports of that crash

just before 10:00 AM Pacific Time. It’s located in the Calabasas area.

NARRATOR: It doesn't take long before the media is reporting the tragic news.

Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, along with seven other people,

have been killed in the helicopter crash.

It’s just one of those things where you can read the words,

and you kind of process them, but you don't really.

It's hard for it to sink in because you gotta think about he’s never comin' back.

MAN: He was the guy.

He was my icon, my role model who got me into the sport, who got me playing.

I’m just at a loss for words right now.

MAN 3: You won’t see another player like him again. He will be missed.

SCHROTENBOER: There is this tremendous outpouring of grief in Los Angeles.

People flocked to Staples Center. Left all kinds of different mementoes.

MAN: This is much bigger than basketball, I think,

Just 'cause, uh, I think Kobe was a real symbol, you know,

of just hard work and dedication.

SCHROTENBOER: Everybody was really just heartsick by what happened.

Love you Kobe. Love you, Gigi. And all the family.

We’re here to conduct a safety investigation

and 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.

NARRATOR: The 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.

The first thing you do at the crash site is try to see

did all the components make it to the crash site?

Was there any kind of mechanical failure?

You know, did a rotor blade break, or a tail rotor come off?

NARRATOR: The team uses a drone to scan the accident site

and study the shape of the debris.

HAUETER: Looking at this accident site,

it’s very clear this was a relatively high rate of descent.

The helicopter hit and the wreckage then bounced about 90 feet

to where it came to a rest.

So there was a lot more vertical speed here

than you have a horizontal speed.

And all the parts of the helicopter made it to the accident site.

NARRATOR: Investigators study flight control surfaces, the engines, and rotors,

as well as the helicopter’s flight instruments.

HAUETER: Examination components found that

there was no evidence of any pre-impact failures, that all the mechanical systems,

electronic systems, everything at that time appeared to be working fine.

NARRATOR: The NTSB’s Bill English has led investigations

into some of the world’s most notorious aviation accidents.

We need to cover all our bases on this one.

HAUETER: Knowing there’s a high-profile person onboard,

obviously NTSB responded with a major investigations team.

Okay. He takes off at 9:07. He flies northwest.

NARRATOR: To better understand what happened,

investigators piece together a detailed flight path

from an ADS-B system that’s onboard the Sikorsky helicopter.

ADS-B data is like transponder data.

Controllers can see it, it's recorded your airspeed,

altitude and headings, other information. And so you have this plotting capability.

Looks like there’s some kind of hold here at Burbank,

then he follows the I-5 to Van Nuys and then south to the 101,

which he follows until he makes this U-turn, straight into a hillside.

HAUETER: You see this turn to the left, where he’s coming back around

or doing something.

And that question is now in the investigation.

What’s exactly the pilot doing here?

Let's take a look at the visibility.

NARRATOR: They study visibility reports from weather stations along the route.

He did manage to avoid the worst of it here.

A bit socked in near Burbank and Van Nuys, but nothing he can't get through.

HAUETER: He had four miles of visibility.

When he got near Burbank Airport, it was two and a half miles visibility.

That's still totally flyable for him.

In fact, by his operation specifications, he could go down to one mile visibility.

Okay. I get it if the visibility was down to zero,

but this wasn't that bad. So what happened to this guy?

HAUETER: Why do we have a high time pilot in an aircraft that's capable of flight

and visibility conditions he should have been able to handle, either lose control

or somehow inadvertently fly his helicopter into the ground?

That becomes the key piece of this investigation.

We need to figure out what he could actually see.

We have a request for the public.

We’re looking for photos of the weather in the area of the crash.

If you could send those photos to witness@ntsb.gov.

NARRATOR: Investigators make a plea to the public for evidence

regarding the Island Express helicopter crash

that took the lives of Kobe Bryant and eight others.

They’re looking for clues to explain how the pilot, Ara Zobayan,

ended up hitting a hillside on a route he knew well.

More than 8300 flying hours, instructor on the S-76, Chief Pilot at Island Express.

Apparently, Kobe’s favorite pilot.

Bit of a superstar.

Yeah.

BRENNER: This pilot was not a rookie who just got his license.

He was one of L.A.’s top helicopter pilots,

working for one of its top companies with some of its most high-profile clients.

NARRATOR: Records show that at 7:00 AM on the morning of the flight,

Zobayan checked the weather for his pre-flight risk assessment and determined

that even though there were low-hanging clouds blanketing the area,

the flight was low risk.

A risk assessment is weather, anxiety, sleep,

all these factors that go into a flight.

NARRATOR: But a low-lying cloud layer surrounding Los Angeles,

known as a marine layer, forced Zobayan to alter his regular, more direct route.

Because of the weather, he flew more inland than he normally does,

sort of a backdoor way in to where they were going.

Based on the forecast, his plan was okay.

Pretty good visibility all along the way. So what went wrong?

(sighs)

NARRATOR: Investigators need to understand the exact conditions Zobayan flew into

in the final moments of the flight.

These are three separate cameras, all facing south toward the 101.

ENGLISH: Couldn't ask for a better view.

NARRATOR: The NTSB’s plea for pictures of the weather pays off.

A nearby baseball facility had surveillance cameras

pointed at key sections of the flight path as the helicopter flew past.

Let’s see what this one shows on a clear day.

NARRATOR: Investigators compare images from the same camera taken on a clear day

to images recorded at the time of the accident.

Yeah, perfect. Okay, so one minute before the accident,

the helicopter would be bombing along here - can’t see it.

How close did it get to the camera?

Best view of it would be here. That’s 4400 feet.

NARRATOR: The helicopter is less than a mile from the camera but isn’t visible.

ENGLISH: Okay, so what about larger objects?

These hills, for instance.

Visible on a clear day, but not at the time of the crash.

That hilltop is 8,000 feet away.

So visibility beneath the clouds was less than 8,000 feet.

That’s a mile and a half.

NARRATOR: The video study tells investigators that,

around the time of the accident,

Zobayan would not have been able to see any further than one and a half miles.

You are only allowed to fly in visibilities one mile or greater.

A mile-and-a-half? Pretty low, pretty minimal.

NARRATOR: Investigators know Zobayan would have been able to fly safely

below the clouds with one-and-a-half-mile visibility.

So what if he was actually above the cloud base?

But he was only... 450 feet above the ground.

NARRATOR: The cloud ceiling, the base of the cloud layer,

was reported to be 1100 feet near Van Nuys.

But Zobayan was flying about 450 feet above the ground,

which would put him well below the clouds.

These are images from the camera on the 101 facing west.

ENGLISH: Okay, you can just make him out here,

actually heading into fairly heavy cloud.

Same camera, three seconds later, he’s disappeared.

And then we have a witness who said that she saw the helicopter disappear

into what she described as a thick wall of heavy clouds.

The NTSB had quite a few very good witnesses, in my opinion,

and they also had cameras in the area.

So they could collect data in real time of what

this pilot would have been encountering.

The surveillance data shows him only 450 feet above the ground.

So the cloud base was no more than 450 feet above the ground,

not the 1100 feet which was being reported along its route.

The report at an airport five miles away

can be greatly different than what you’re encountering

because of uplifting winds and that type of thing around the hills.

NARRATOR: The area near Calabasas has its own unique climate.

The Malibu Canyon can channel fog up from the Pacific Ocean.

That fog is known to pool precisely where Zobayan was seen flying into clouds.

The fog gathers here, at Mureau Road,

and this is where our witnesses saw him enter the clouds.

NARRATOR: Investigators have determined that,

just over a minute before the accident,

Zobayan flew into dense clouds that would have reduced his visibility to near zero.

That clinches it. He flew into IMC.

NARRATOR: IMC, Instrument Meteorological Conditions,

is when visibility is so poor that pilots need to fly only on instruments.

They were only authorized to fly under Visual Flight Rules.

BRENNER: Legally he’s not allowed to enter it.

He’s only allowed to go in visual conditions only, and yet he did.

NARRATOR: In aviation, there’s a term for VFR pilots

who fly into low visibility conditions.

It’s called an “Inadvertent Encounter with IMC.”

HAUETER: It can happen at night where you fly into a cloud that you didn't see.

It can happen that you’re choosing to avoid something,

and you inadvertently go into a cloud.

Unfortunately, it’s an accident that happens way too often.

NARRATOR: Inadvertent IMC is a leading cause of aviation accidents

over the past ten years. More than 80% of them are fatal.

BRENNER: You can’t see where the horizon is,

and you can't see the sky from the ground.

You don't know visually, which is our main sense.

You have to rely on secondary senses, such as sense of balance.

And there are illusions that come up.

NARRATOR: An Inadvertent Encounter with Instrument Conditions

is so potentially dangerous,

that pilots are trained to do whatever they can to avoid it.

How did he let himself get into this situation?

Let’s see his speeds and altitudes.

NARRATOR: The data from the ADS-B gives investigators

a detailed picture of the helicopter’s altitude and speed

as it approached Calabasas.

If Zobayan tried to avoid the worsening conditions,

the data would show it.

He’s bombing along here at about 140 knots.

Visibility is getting worse and worse but he’s not slowing down,

he’s not turning around, he just keeps going. Why?

HAUETER: He could have turned around, landed at Van Nuys.

He could have circled for a while near the airport,

waiting for the conditions to improve.

For whatever reason we don’t know, he chose none of those options.

NARRATOR: The team now considers the widely held belief

that Zobayan was pressured to continue the flight by his high-profile passenger.

SCHROTENBOER: A lot of people wondered after the crash happened,

if Kobe, being Kobe,

might have put pressure on this pilot to get to where he wanted to go.

Because that’s the whole reason that he was taking a helicopter in the first place

is to get from Point A to Point B and do it without any unnecessary delays.

The same passengers take the same flight the day before the accident.

They’re scheduled to take off at 9:45 but Kobe changes that to 9:00.

They moved it up by 45 minutes

so that Kobe could watch another team or teams play

in preparation for his daughter’s basketball tournament on Sunday.

So they get airborne just after 9:00, and then this happens.

They’re held up for 12 minutes.

November two Echo X-ray, hold outside Burbank airspace.

I have an aircraft going around and an inbound Citation.

NARRATOR: Investigators know that Kobe’s helicopter

was held up at Burbank for 12 minutes,

while Zobayan waited for traffic to clear the controlled airspace.

Okay, we'll hold outside Burbank. Two Echo X-ray.

NARRATOR: A little more than ten minutes later,

Zobayan flew into thick cloud cover at a speed of 160 miles an hour

as he approached Camarillo.

HAUETER: In my opinion, 140 knots is probably twice the speed

he should have been operating in those visual conditions.

He should have slowed down.

Was he trying to make up for the lost time?

NARRATOR: The team digs into Kobe Bryant’s previous flights with Island Express,

to see if there’s any history of him putting pressure on pilots.

He took 26 flights with Island Express last year.

Not once did he pressure a pilot to keep going.

Kobe would never put pressure on a pilot. I flew him for two years.

Not once was there ever any amount of pressure from him.

NARRATOR: Investigators find no evidence that Kobe Bryant

or any member of his team put pressure on Zobayan to continue the flight.

They had a history.

NARRATOR: They scrutinize Kobe Bryant’s relationship with Ara Zobayan,

for anything that could have affected the pilot’s behavior

- on the day of the accident. - More than a history.

The Director of Operations says that Kobe’s relationship with Ara was, quote,

"Warm and friendly, that he trusted Ara with his girls and his family,

that they always wanted Ara."

The company’s VP says that their relationship was more like a friendship.

And that Kobe would call him Mister Pilot Man.

These guys sure were tight.

The relationship may have been pressure enough.

How’s everyone doing today?

NARRATOR: Investigators conclude

that Zobayan’s close relationship with Kobe Bryant

may have led to self-induced pressure to get him to his destination.

BRENNER: Part of the concern here is that

the pilot was trying to complete the mission in part to satisfy the client.

NARRATOR: Investigators soon find another important factor

that may have influenced Zobayan’s decision making.

SEVILLIAN: Six minutes before the crash,

he clears Van Nuys airspace and heads south.

He tells controllers that he planned to stay low all the way to Camarillo.

To stay below the clouds.

ATC 4: Helicopter seven two Echo X-ray,

are you just gonna stay down that low all the way to Camarillo?

Yes, sir, low altitude, two Echo X-ray.

SEVILLIAN: Two minutes later, he starts following the 101,

which should lead him straight into Camarillo.

He bombs along the 101 for two more minutes until he hits this wall of clouds.

24 miles to go. He was almost there.

Almost.

NARRATOR: Zobayan was less than ten minutes away

from getting his passengers to their destination.

BRENNER: When you’re close to finishing,

you have a tendency to be willing to tolerate conditions

that might have caused you not to take the trip originally.

NARRATOR: The team believes Zobayan was suffering from a condition

known as Plan Continuation Bias

when he decided to keep going despite deteriorating weather conditions.

BRENNER: Plan Continuation Bias is an unconscious bias

to continue with the original plan even when conditions change.

In an aviation environment, it can be deadly.

It doesn't take long for things to start going wrong

as soon as he entered that cloud.

NARRATOR: Instead of turning around, Zobayan decides to climb above the clouds.

We’re gonna go ahead and start our climb to go above the layers.

SEVILLIAN: He starts banking further and further left,

descends rapidly, hits the hill here.

NARRATOR: The pilot’s unusual actions lead investigators

to wonder about the level of training he received.

SEVILLIAN: He was trained to avoid IMC and what to do if he got into it.

NARRATOR: They discover that Zobayan was well trained

to escape the precise conditions he flew into.

BRENNER: This pilot trained routinely for inadvertent IMC situation.

More than that, he was the Chief Pilot of the company.

He set the safety standards for all the pilots,

and he trained them on how to deal with instrument conditions.

This is what he was taught.

NARRATOR: A review of Zobayan’s training shows

that he was taught to reduce his speed,

use the autopilot to climb above the clouds, and then declare an emergency.

His training was good.

NARRATOR: But did Zobayan follow his training?

Here he’s entering an area of low visibility.

Still flying well above 100 knots, no evidence of slowing down.

NARRATOR: Investigators know Zobayan did not reduce speed.

They now wonder if he engaged the autopilot.

- Play. - ZOBAYAN (over tape): We’re gonna go ahead

and start our climb to go above the layers.

ENGLISH: Look at that rate of climb. 1500 feet a minute.

It can't be the autopilot doing that.

HAUETER: That exceeds the authority of the autopilot system.

Therefore, this climb was being manually controlled.

All right, well, at this point,

he’s just trying to get above the clouds without the autopilot.

NARRATOR: The higher Zobayan climbs into the dense cloud,

the worse the visibility gets. But he never asks for help.

Well, he never reports an emergency. He never mentions being in IMC.

The one thing he should have been saying,

“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, declaring an emergency, inadvertent IMC.”

He didn't slow down. He didn't use his autopilot.

- He never declared an emergency. - He ignored all his training.

BRENNER: There are basic procedures that should be followed,

and you have to have a very cautious approach

to any sort of instrument conditions.

This was not evident in the way the pilot flew that day.

NARRATOR: By ignoring his training,

Zobayan found himself in a rapid climb with no visibility

and without the help of the autopilot,

prime conditions for becoming spatially disoriented.

Annemarie Landman studies the effects of spatial disorientation in pilots.

LANDMAN: If you take away outside visual reference from a pilot,

then he or she will really have to trust the instruments.

Because if you don't have outside visual reference,

then any sensation that you feel can be very misleading.

NARRATOR: Did Ara Zobayan suffer the effects of disorientation

after flying into dense clouds?

ATC 4: Two Echo X-ray, say intentions.

NARRATOR: Zobayan’s last words show that’s precisely what happened.

ZOBAYAN (over tape): Uh, we’re climbing to 4,000. Two Echo X-ray.

Did you hear that? It’s like he completely lost his bearings.

NARRATOR: The recording tells investigators

that Zobayan believed he was climbing,

when he was actually descending rapidly towards the ground in a steep left turn.

It’s what aviators call the graveyard spiral.

To right that aircraft, no. In a mountainous area, you’re done.

You’re absolutely done.

NARRATOR: The team has pieced together a picture of a pilot

who flew into prime conditions for causing disorientation.

Zobayan’s problem starts just after he flies into the cloud.

He decides the best thing to do is to fly above it.

NARRATOR: But as he climbs visibility worsens,

and his reference to the highway below and the horizon ahead quickly disappear.

It’s all but impossible for pilots to determine a plane’s pitch and roll

without a visual reference to their surroundings.

Without visual cues, the human body is unable to maintain its spatial bearings.

The result is disorientation.

As the highway below veers left, Zobayan tries to stay with it.

He puts the helicopter into a gradual left turn.

He’s not looking at the instruments at this point.

He was perhaps looking down to search for the highway that he was following before.

ATC 4: Uh, two Echo X-ray, ident.

NARRATOR: Zobayan now faces a distraction

that makes the situation significantly worse.

Ident.

NARRATOR: He is forced to identify himself to the controller.

It’s not only a distraction, it forces him to move his head,

which increases the risk of disorientation.

We advise pilots to not move their head around

when they’re flying without outside visual reference.

This is moving the fluid in your inner ears,

and this actually makes you a little bit more susceptible to illusions.

SEVILLIAN: The highway now veers off to the right. But he’s lost sight of it.

He’s banking further and further to the left without even realizing it.

30 seconds from impact.

NARRATOR: Disorientation sets in.

LANDMAN: The turn is so gradual and it is so slow that the onset,

it seems that he's not feeling that.

So for him it still feels that he’s flying level.

And he gets to 1600 feet and he starts to descend, without even knowing it.

BRENNER: It’s clear that prior to the accident,

the pilot really did not know what the helicopter was doing,

because he was asked his intentions

and he indicated that he was climbing to 4,000 feet.

Uh, we’re climbing to 4,000. Two Echo X-ray.

BRENNER: At that point, the helicopter was not climbing.

It was descending towards a crash and the pilot didn't realize it.

NARRATOR: He’s now in a rapid descent and likely looking for clear skies above,

not noticing what his instruments are showing.

HAUETER: Without having outside visual references

and not being focused on your instruments,

it’s very easy for that to happen and it does happen far too often.

He’s so far over it’s like he lost all his lift. He’s plummeting to the ground.

Graveyard spiral. Classic.

SEVILLIAN: About a minute after entering the clouds,

he hits the ground like this almost on its side at more than 160 knots.

There’s no sign he ever figured out what was really happening.

NARRATOR: Kobe Bryant and eight others died

as a result of an all-too-common scenario,

a helicopter pilot flying IMC and becoming disoriented.

HAUETER: We need something to help pilots understand that

just because you feel like your body’s being pushed down in the seat

doesn't mean you're climbing.

NARRATOR: That device exists, and it’s helping train pilots in the Netherlands.

The one-of-a-kind simulator lets researchers reproduce

the feeling of spatial disorientation without pilots having to leave the ground.

All right. Roger.

Okay Maarten, so how are you feeling now?

- KEMNA (over radio): I’m feeling pitched up.

- LANDMAN: You’re feeling pitched up? - KEMNA: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Investigators hoping to prevent the kind of accident

that caused Ara Zobayan to get so badly disoriented...

(explosion)

are looking closely at the work being done in labs like this one,

at the Netherlands’ Organization for Applied Scientific Research, or TNO.

LANDMAN: We investigate the effects of spatial disorientation

on pilot performance.

NARRATOR: Zobayan believed he was climbing

when he was actually descending and was unaware that he was in a steep left turn.

He was suffering from two of the most common illusions affecting pilots,

somatogravic, involving his sense of pitch,

and somatogyral, involving his sense of roll.

Spatial disorientation is a factor in about 30% of fatal helicopter crashes.

NARRATOR: This rotating chair helps pilots experience the effect of the leans,

the inability to recognize that you are in a steep turn.

LANDMAN: When a pilot starts a turn, the fluids in the inner ear responds,

and it’s telling that he or she is in a turn.

But after a while, the fluid sort of settles.

So it actually feels as if they’re flying level again.

NARRATOR: This pilot is using his thumbs to show the direction

he believes he’s turning.

For the first few seconds he’s right,

but as the fluid in his ear settles, he no longer senses the turn.

This is the identical illusion that Ara Zobayan experienced.

It’s why he never realized that he had entered a gradual left turn

once he lost sight of the highway below,

even though his instruments would have been telling him precisely that.

LANDMAN: We train them here to really trust their instruments

and to really be focused on their instruments,

especially in situations of low visibility.

NARRATOR: But the heart of TNO’s facility is this simulator called Desdemona.

Okay. So here’s what’s going to happen.

You just have to wait for our mark, and then you just have to level the aircraft.

But you have to do it without the instruments.

So only based on your gut feeling.

NARRATOR: It’s a disorientation demonstrator,

which safely simulates the effects of pitch and roll illusions on pilots.

It’s the only one in the world.

LANDMAN: Okay Maarten, so first you’re just going to fly a little bit

to get acquainted with the controls, all right?

KEMNA: All right. Roger.

Yeah, so you have the instruments available.

- KEMNA: Yep. - Okay. Let’s start the simulation.

NARRATOR: Unlike simulators that are attached to the ground,

Desdemona can simulate unlimited degrees of pitch,

yaw, and roll, as well as the forces of acceleration.

LANDMAN: It’s really important to have a simulator that can really

create a constant force or a constant force that feels like acceleration.

- MAN: Continue the climb. - KEMNA: Continuing climb.

NARRATOR: Pilot Maarten Kemna is about to experience

the same sensation that Zobayan felt moments before the crash.

The instruments in the simulator are turned off so he must rely only on feel.

- Maarten, how are you feeling now? - KEMNA: I’m feeling straight and level.

LANDMAN: Let’s ramp up the acceleration and see how that feels.

Now we’re starting the centrifuge

and the cabin of the simulator is pointing towards the center.

So for Maarten it actually just feels like he’s accelerating forward.

NARRATOR: The acceleration causes him to mistake what is actually happening.

- Okay Maarten, what are you feeling now? - KEMNA: Uh, a bit pitched up.

LANDMAN: And what do you think that the aircraft is doing now?

KEMNA: We’re climbing now.

LANDMAN: If you are accelerating forwards,

the little hairs in your inner ear will actually give a constant signal

that is the same as if you are being pitched up.

ZOBAYAN: Yeah, we’re climbing to 4,000, two Echo X-ray.

NARRATOR: It’s the exact illusion that caused Ara Zobayan

to believe he was still climbing when his helicopter was in a steep descent.

- Okay, now bring the nose back to level. - KEMNA: Yeah. Sure.

LANDMAN: So you can see that he’s bringing the nose below the horizon.

For him, this actually feels level. So shall we show him the instruments?

KEMNA: Oh my God. I’m 20 degrees nose down.

- LANDMAN: Okay. Can you recover? - KEMNA (laughing) Yeah.

LANDMAN: We hope that this helps them

to recognize spatial disorientation when it occurs.

Secondly, we also hope to teach them some skills that help them

to manage spatial disorientation if it occurs.

Wow! (laughs) That was...

- It’s crazy, huh? - It was crazy.

I believe that as a tribute to the victims of this accident,

the industry needs to realize how common and sinister these affects can be

and develop better safety standards.

NARRATOR: As a result of NTSB recommendations,

the Federal Aviation Administration is evaluating tools like Desdemona,

that can be used to train more pilots how to recognize and cope with

the effects of disorientation.

HAUETER: The last thing the NTSB wants to do is go back

and investigate this kind of accident all over again.

And through the death of this person, and people on board,

hopefully this will be the one to help improve safety.

Time will tell.