Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash

Preliminary flight data from Flight Aware and ATC indicate possible controlled flight into terrain @1700 ft due to fog.

The pilot circled near the Burbank zoo waiting for fog to clear. He contacted Burbank tower who sent him North along a freeway (this is what we used to call IFH, or I Fly Highways). Freeways offer some protection in bad weather because there are no radio towers on them and they are easy to spot looking down. He then ran into more fog and headed south toward a more mountainous area. He requested an altitude change from 1200 to 2000 ft but was lost on radar moments later at the site of the crash and an elevation if 1700 ft. The helicopter was doing 161knots.
 
Pilot error if these reports are true. I have never been in such a hurry that I would fly under non-visual conditions unless it was an extreme emergency. Maybe the fog appeared unexpectedly but I imagine it is common around the coast and mountains in that area. I agree 161 knots in the fog seems a bit reckless.
 
I mean no disrespect and as far as my thoughts are about this man, I am totally indifferent. It's terrible news about a man and his 13 year old daughter and such events are a tragedy. That being said, I am rarely phased by these reported events and, although many of you have posted sentiments, I don't lump you into the people I am going to refer to. The people in media and in the life of celebrity who carry on an on about the passing of one of their own.

The reality is that when this man opened his eyes in eternity, where ever that is in his case, he found himself to be no better or worse than the millions who proceeded him. "For there is no respect of persons with God," it is written in Romans. I suppose the reason I look at things the way I do currently is because of what happened to my wife and her family just three months ago when they lost their father to cancer. My parents have been gone for years, but watching it play out with my wife seemed even more hurtful because I hated how it effected her, her mother and siblings.

It literally makes me somewhat nauseated when a celebrated person, whether it be an athlete, singer, actor, you-name-it, passes away and people respond as if they were a deity. There are millions of family members all over the world who suffer mental anguish and tragedy on a daily basis. Someone is going through it even as I type. I'm not suggesting that no mention should be made of a person's passing, but this continuous fawning of a person for an extended period of time only demonstrates how too many folks are misguided into believing this is the only life we live and how ridiculous and destructive it is to "people worship."

None of us are promised tomorrow, no matter how well we sing, act or dribble a basketball. And the sooner we become concerned about what we will be doing and where we will be doing it a million years into the future, the better off we will be.
 
The media have made it clear he was a superstar and his death is a tragedy. As sad as this is, every day, we lose real heroes like cops, firemen and soldiers. yet the media doesn't care about them. Over 125 people have been shot so far in the city of Chicago in 2020, yet page 1 news is all about Kobe. Perhaps Kobe would still be alive is he had to drive a Toyota to practice and had to sit in traffic like the rest of us, but I guess he thought his time was more valuable than every one else's.
 
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