The helicopter carrying basketball legend Kobe Bryant missed clearing the hillside it plunged into by only 20 feet, investigators have revealed.
Officials said the Sikorsky S-76B descended at a rate of 2,000 feet a minute before the “high-energy impact crash” that killed Bryant, 41, his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others in California on Sunday.
The pilot had tried to climb out of clouds, but the aircraft then banked sharply and lurched to the ground.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the helicopter had not been fitted with a terrain awareness and warning system which could have sounded an alarm.
The board had recommended all helicopters be fitted with the system after a crash in 2004, but the Federal Aviation Authority did not make it compulsory on similar aircraft
Investigators also revealed emergency crews identified the body of Bryant and three other victims, including pilot Ara Zobayan, by their fingerprints. The other five bodies have yet to be formally identified, the Los Angeles coroner has said.
Bryant’s old team postponed a game last night as fans set up a shrine at the LA Lakers’ Staples Center base.
