February 3, 2021 • 26 mins
Hikers and bikers in the Lost Hills area of Calabasas saw an aircraft plunge into a hillside, others heard a loud pop. The terrain was so difficult to navigate that some firefighters had to be airlifted into the scene. In this episode we hear the actual 911 calls and the first briefing from the Los Angeles County Fire and Sheriff’s Departments. It’s also Grammy night.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Sunday morning, January our Zabayan was piloting a private helicopter
with Kobe Bryant, Bryant's daughter and their friends to a
basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks, California. Along the way, he's
a buying, encountered fog and was in constant contact with
air traffic controllers. Everything seemed normal until to echo ACTRA
(00:27):
you're still at level for following radio silence two Echo actrascount.
I'm Steve Gregory in Los Angeles and this is the
death and life of Kobe Bryant. Helicopter crashed into a mountain.
(00:53):
We heard it and now I'm looking at the flames
Malibu Canyon and Agora Road on the Ari Juan Supermarket.
We can see it. I'm at four two three five
Lost Virgins Road. I just towed a helicopter door re
me approximately from Loss Hills Road at went over my head.
It's quick and clouds and then I just heard a
(01:15):
pop and it immediately stopped. Yes, that was just clarifying
where that plane went down. It's right behind the loss
Or Metropolitan Water District, Los Virginus Metropolitan Water District, laid
behind the building. The flames have gone out. I can
(01:35):
just see smoked down barely anything last Virginism Mahad Yes, okay,
yeah it's not it's not maholl And. It's too far south,
So what's a better locations. I can tell my units
behind the Corporate Water District building about a quarter of
a mile up in the hills. Okay, I can see
the flames still. By now, fire and rescue crews have
(01:57):
arrived on scene and some actually had to be airlifted
to the crash site. Captain Tony and Brenda was a
public information officer with the Los Angeles County Fire Department
and met reporters down at the bottom of the hill
who had been sent there to the scene, not knowing
at the time who was on board. Still early on
in this incident, we received a call just before ten
am this morning l a County Fire dispatch of an
(02:19):
aircraft down here in uh the Malibu area, right off
the Lost Virgins essentially Calabasas, right off the Lost Virgines
Road here and apparently some folks were out here mountain
bike in this morning and saw an aircraft in distress
that went down into the hillside. Um there. This was
a helicopter it's been confirmed that it was in S
(02:41):
seventy six so Korsky helicopter and unfortunately there were no survivors.
Um Right now, we're in the very early phase of this.
We still have some fire activity on the hill, so
La County Fire Department units are are doing a progressive
hoseley right now to get water up. The aircraft is
down pretty far from the old so we're having to
put several hundred feet of hose in to get up
(03:03):
there to cool down the scene. And right now we're
waiting for the arrival and TSB investigators. There's not much
more to add right now. We're still in the very
early phase of this. We just know that it's multiple
fatalities and there were no survivors. Los Angeles County Sheriff
Alex v In a WAVA remembers getting the call. I
got a phone call from a EID. I was in
uh I believe uptown wire and he said, hey, there's
(03:26):
been a helicopter crash in in the Lost Hills area, Calabasas,
which is not unusual and of itself, because it happens
every few months. There's always a crash with a fatality too.
He said, no this is I got a lot more
of his nine and one of them maybe Kobe every
calibrator right there, realizing, oh boy, so made a B
line home, got changed out and we made a bee
(03:47):
line over to Lost Hills station. Knowing what that entailed,
the onslaught of the media, and of course as as
we're driving over there, we're asking all the impertinent questions.
Make sure that all the operational things that happened. They
set up a perimeter. Uh, they got a containment are
set up. They have people that are assisting with actually
(04:08):
going to the site to see if there are any
survivors and to render aid because we typically we're going
to get there before fired us on almost every scene.
And uh then fire. It was so remote that fire
had to be flown in to access it. I think
it took our guys almost forty five minutes to hack
their way to the point of it because there was
(04:29):
no clear trail that they knew of at the time
because they're going on visual, so they huffed it on
foot to get there. For those involved, there was one
of those events that they were never gonna forget. I
was in the newsroom that morning. I was filling in
as an anchor for a coworker, and as I was
writing my newscast, I noticed an alert pop up on
our news wire service, Kobe Bryant dyings in helicopter crash.
(04:52):
I paused for a moment to let that sink in.
I thought it was a hoax. I went down the
hall to our sports affili to ask their staff, but
they hadn't heard anything yet. I decided to call a
source with the l A County Sheriff's Department, who actually
confirmed it was Kobe. And when I saw the alert
pop up again, it also added the source of the
information to TMZ Sports and we'll explore that angle in
(05:15):
a future episode. It was time to break into our
regular programming kf I am sixty Breaking News. I'm Steve
Gregory in the KFI news center. This is breaking news
coming from the KMFI news room. We are being told
that Lakers star Kobe Bryant has been killed in a
helicopter crash in Calabasas. There was a helicopter crash early
(05:38):
this morning around am. The only County Sheriff's Department says
the helicopter is a Sikorski and it was registered to
the f A A as a private helicopter to Kobe Bryant.
We're told that others on board were also killed, not
including Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's wife. Again from the KFI
new Center, we're just being told moments ago it's been
(05:58):
confirmed that Basketball let and Kobe Bryant has died in
a helicopter crash. We'll have more at the top of
the hour on kf I Am six forty. More stimulating talk. Now,
back to more stimulating talk on kf I Am six.
Behind the scenes, I'm calling my news director and program director,
and after a brief discussion, it was decided our station
would go into what we call wall to all coverage.
(06:19):
That's when we blow out commercials and bringing our talk
show host to actually anchor live coverage. The other story
we've been focused on that day was about a strange
flu like virus that had been discovered in Wuhan, China,
and whether or not it was a danger to southern California.
I did have an opportunity to sit down exclusively with
Eli County Sheriff v and Wave to ask him a
lot of questions about that day. As he looks back,
(06:40):
one of them was when he thought it was time
to talk with the media and why the crash had occurred.
We had a potential up to nine victims that we
could not confirm the identity of any individual victim, and
so everyone else ran with a story that was COVID
because somebody got ahold. I think through TMZ that they
already put together. They had the manifest of the flight
(07:04):
and they had all the names, but we weren't going
to confirm anyone until we got that from the corner.
So within a few hours of the accident, the sheriff
and Elly County's fire chief had their first press briefing
in front of the Sheriff's departments. Lost Hills Substation in Calabasas.
Personnel from Las Hils Sheriff's states and responded to the
scene of the crash site and assisted the fire department,
(07:26):
and we've established a containment area. And now our Aero
Bureau has a handle on traffic aircraft accidents. However, when
there's a fatality then it switches to the National Transportation
Safety Bureau the NTS, and the Federal Aviation Administration the
f A. A f A is already unseen and assisting.
(07:46):
We're waiting the rival of the Corners Office to assist
in the recovery of the remains. As the chief indicated
there were no survivors. We have a manifest that indicates
that there was nine people on board the aircraft, the
pilot plus eight individuals. Uh, there is wine speculation and
whose identities are. However, it is being entirely inappropriate right
(08:08):
now to identify anyone by name until the Corner has
made the identification through their very deliberative profits and they
made notifications and next of kin, and it would be
extremely disrespectful to understand that your loved one of those
parents that you learn about it from TMZ. That is
just wholly inappropriate. So we're not going to be going there,
(08:30):
and we're gonna wait till the Corner does their job,
and we're assisting the families of those who believe there
have been impacted. And it's a it's a it's a
tough process, and our hope goes out to all of
the members they were on board, all the family of
everyone who was on board this aircraft, and uh, God
bless their souls. So at this point in time, we
have nothing that we can add until the Corner does
(08:53):
her job. And we'll be making those notifications. When we
have the information and we know the next of kin
have been notified, then we can release the information publicly
that you'll be notified in subsequent announcement. This was only
supposed to be a briefing. Neither the chief nor the
sheriff would answer questions, but that doesn't stop reporters from
thrown out a few actually of nine bodies there at
(09:17):
the scene. That is that is our belief. Yes, back
at the Campfire radio station, we were in full swing
with wall to wall coverage. Feel absolutely horrible is and
and probably no fault of his own. I'm sure he
was being begged for that clearance, but whoever gave him
the clearance at the Burbank airport. Absolutely we're hearing more
about who else was on board that plane, and according
(09:39):
to a Calabasas city official, they have confirmed to NBC
that there was a teammate on her basketball team also
on board, and we're hearing that Orange Coast College baseball
coach John Alto Belly was also on board. This has
been confirmed by Orange Coast College John Alto Bell. So
(10:01):
it seems maybe he and and and a daughter. Maybe
that was a teammate of GS was also on board
that helicopter. Here's Kareem Abdul Jabbar and his emotional response
to the losing a friend of his, Kobe Bryant. It's
very difficult for me to put in words how I
feel about the loss of Kobe Bryant as a young boy.
(10:26):
News conferences is starting here, so we'll play that for you.
Adam Silver has released a statement saying that the NBA
family is devastated by the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant
and his daughter Gianna for twenty seasons. He says, Kobe
showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with
an absolute devotion to winning. He was one of the
most extraordinary players in the history of our game, with
(10:47):
accomplishments that are legendary. Coming up, the NBA catches word
of the tragedy as the death and life of Kobe
Bryant continues. Yah sixteen teams in the NBA were scheduled
(11:14):
to play that day, and they all paid tribute in
their own very unique ways, including the game between the
Raptors and the spur They have decided that whoever wins
the tip, and in this case Toronto. They are going
to let the shot clock run out because of the
number twenty four to honor Cope cry The Clippers were
also scheduled to play the coach at the time, Doc Rivers,
(11:36):
was stopped by some reporters just before the games. H M,
(12:05):
you know, I don't know, uh, you know, Uh, I
just don't have a lot to say. The news is
just devastating to everybody who knew him, who knows him
(12:26):
in a long time, and uh, you know, he just
he meant He means a lot to me obviously. Um,
you know, he was such a great opponent. Yeah, this
is this is a tough one. I don't uh, we
(12:46):
have to go play. Uh, I mean, the news is
just devastating for for Vanessa and his and his family,
and um, there's just so many people he touched, you know. Um,
and you know it's looking at my young players and
seeing how emotional they are, uh you know, and uh
(13:10):
it just tells you how far has reached us. So um,
and this is just shocking news for all of us.
And sorry, I don't have a lot to say. I
just can't have to go talk to a team before
a game and tell him to play again. We're talking
exclusively with l A County Sheriff alex Via Nueva as
(13:33):
he looks back on the day of the accident. I
asked him why it was important to have a second
briefing that night, especially since there was no new information. Well,
there's some things that are just straight logistical practical that
we needed. We need to discourage people from going there
because they had flooded all the streets, The lookie lows
were out in force. We had one fool who actually
in the middle of the night tried to you know,
(13:55):
hike through the brush to get to the crash site.
So we had to have twenty four hour security on horseback.
We had departs on horseback and on a t V
s patrolling the perimeter. By now it's nightfall in the
l A County Sheriff and other officials have gathered for
a second briefing and press conference. Good evening, everyone. Purpose
of of tonight's press up day is to give you
(14:16):
an idea of what's gonna be the next steps of
this uh, this process, this investigation is going to be
and everyone's role, as you can imagine, this is gonna
be very extensive process. It's gonna take not just days,
but weeks for us to get to recover from this.
And as the other count of Shriffs Department, we're working
with our federal partners, which is NTSB and the f
(14:36):
a A in a system during the course of this investigation,
and the f A is already unseen and they've provided
very invaluable assistance. They've secured a five mile of flight
restriction for the area of the crash site and also
five thousand foot ceiling over it, so that is a
great help in securing the crash site. As you may
(15:00):
already heard from the NTSP, they're already in route to
our location to initiate the investigation. We want to thank
our partners in the Early County Fire Department for their
timely response putting out the fire and secure in the area.
And right now it's uh as you can imagine, it's
all logistical nightmare in a sense because the crash site
(15:20):
itself is not easily accessible. However, we're now faced with
I guess well wishers and people morning who have descended
on the area, on the residential community and even the
crash site itself, and we have to reiterate it is
off limits to everybody. Except the first responders and investigators.
So we now have personnel deployed to get people away
(15:44):
from there, and they cannot access to crash site. It
is in very rough terrain, very dangerous even in daylight,
much less in the middle of the night, So we
just want to people stay away. The location itself is
in a residential community or adjacent to residential community, and
there are no businesses, and we want to have the
(16:04):
roads free for first responders and for investigators. If you
do not have an identification establishes you as a local resident,
you will not be permitted access to the area, and
there are road closures in effect right now. So now
I want to turn it over to a to UH.
Dr Lucas, good evening. My name is Dr Jonathan Lucas.
(16:25):
I'm the Chief Medical Examiner for the County of Los
Angeles UM. Today our department had multiple members of our
Special Operations Response Team that we're on site. Um are
recovery efforts began today, but as the Sheriff UH mentioned,
(16:48):
given the terrain and the condition of the site, UH
we expect that this will probably take at least a couple,
if not a few days to complete the recovery Our
priority is completing the recovery as quickly as possible, but
but but safely, UH and thoroughly and UM and doing
(17:10):
that to make sure our staff are, like I said,
are safe. UM. Our next priority after recovery is identification
and notification of the families, all of all of which
will do as soon as we possibly can. I also
want to emphasize that we'll be doing our work thoroughly, quickly,
(17:31):
and with the utmost compassion. So again, we really we
offer our condolences to the families at this point, and
I just want to reassure everybody we're doing everything we
can to confirm identifications and give closure to the families involved.
Thank you. Coming up. A sportscaster and longtime friend of
Kobe's is in shock as the death and life of
(17:54):
Kobe Bryant continues. Y Vic the Brick Jacobs is a
(18:35):
fixture on l A Radio. He's been a sportscaster for
decades and is a regular on kl A C A M.
During our wald Wall coverage on KFI, we were able
to get him to come on. It wasn't easy, but
Vic fought back tears as he looked back on his
relationship with Kobe. This is such a living nightmare for
all of us, For new Kobe, It's touched our lives,
(19:03):
a transcendent spirit, a profound essence. I'm not just an
insanely great basketball player, but one who, at forty years old,
was this beginning to blossom. I think, Shannon, you were
talking about that earlier is so true. He had so
(19:23):
much to give, you know, he gave all he could
on the court. Every possession he bowled like it was
his last possession of his freaking life. That's how he
played the game. He was taped up like a mummy
by Gary VD on hundreds of occasions, and I'd see
(19:44):
him in the lake, a locker room. I'd see in
the training room with VD, and he was in such pain.
But he knew, he knew people wanted to see him
and see his lust for hoop. And he has such
an incredible lust and desire for winning. You know. Thus,
(20:05):
you know he evolved into the Mamba. But I knew
Colbe when he was seventeen, twenty four years ago, when
he first came to town from Philadelphia rookie on the Lakers.
He was going to play summer ball in Long Beach
at the pyramid. I called this hotel room, and I said, Colby,
(20:25):
this is vic the brick looked to come and see
you and say hi, and the cities are excited. And
he said, sure, come on down. They came to his hotel.
We're eating French fries together in his room, and he
was iced up to his hip. Even at seventeen. He
was preserving his body like like I had never seen before.
(20:47):
He had such he was so in tune, you know,
with with the whole you know, mind, body and soul
of Hoop. But on the court, unparalleled love of the game,
Harold Old desire to win, unparalleled love of the city
of Los Angeles, of the world. You know. He was
(21:10):
the first to go to China to open up that
bridge of harmony through hope. No no, no one had
the you know, the wisdom and really the division of
Kobe Bryant. Everyone just saw him. He was he was
a hardass. So you can't talk to this guy. But
my my experience with Kobe was one of a young
poet at seventeen. And when I first saw him at
(21:32):
Long Beach, I'll tell room, I said, I'm in the
presence of a poet. I knew I knew he was,
you know, beyond basketball. He was. He was so strong,
he was he had this iron will about him, this
indomitable spirit I knew would transcend the game. And it has.
I mean, he's done so much for basketball. But also
you know when he retired a few years ago and
who could get his last game when he dropped sixty
(21:53):
on Utah, I mean, come on, I can barely move
and said he was in pain. It was injured. He's
still He knew the fans were there for him. He
wanted to give you one last incredible memory. Indelible. It's indelible.
His whole career is indelible. I was on the court
with him his first big shot against Phoenix, the playoff game,
and I was right behind him when he gave his
first primal scream at the Downtown Hoopdo Joe. And I
(22:16):
was right behind him in my poncho and my purple
and gold fur and right behind him, you know, screaming,
you were the one, you were the one. You were
the way he were the way, and Kobe Bryant is
the way. He's a gone among men. It's a gone
among men. We've all been, you know, horrifically affected today.
Not just called me the basketball player. I called me
the person. He loved his four daughters and to have
one have she should go down with him as this
(22:37):
is this, you know, beyond a nightmare. I first heard it,
you know, via reports, you know, the various you know
media giants K five of course an turn K five
T MZ. And I just started crying my eyes out
and cried and cried because we all loved him. Some misunderstood,
(23:07):
you know, everyone thought he was this crazy, crazy, hardass
dude who with no emotions and basically that was a
way to motivate himself. But with my with me, and
I told you, you know, since he was seventeen, I
could see, you know, his transcendence as a man. He
(23:29):
was such an ancient soul in a seventeen year old body.
And not not did he elevate the game of basketball,
you know and spread it, you know, the good will
you know, not just a China, but but everywhere you know,
he's he used to speak in many languages after the
game in this postgame interviews because of the international you know,
(23:50):
grew up in Italy, you know, with Joe and when
you know his father was Joe Bryant's Joe jelly Bean
Bryant was a wonderful basketball player. And I, you know,
I tenner and BASKETBA player in Europe very early. And
you know called he grew up in in uh in Italy,
you know, watching the videotapes of the NBA and getting inspired,
(24:10):
you know, ten tho miles away and some crazy apartment
in Rome and just basically building his psyche. But he
was always so in tune with the game and so
in tune with life. He loved his he loved his
daughter so much. While crews were still working at the
crash site thirty miles southeast in downtown Los Angeles, the
(24:31):
annual Grammy Awards were about to go live at Staples Center.
Here we are singer songwriter Alicia Keys together on music's
biggest night, celebrating the artist that do it best. But
to be honest with you, we're all feeling crazy sadness
(24:52):
right now because earlier today Los Angeles, America and the
whole wide world lost a hero. And we're literally standing
here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built. A
(25:21):
lot of people were scrambling behind the scenes at the
Grammys that night, including Alicia Keys. She and the group
boys two men were able to put together at the
very last second a song to pay tribute to Kobe.
The guitar and mass lead all wait the bed Hi
(25:47):
and Not memo to be coming up in episode three.
(26:09):
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. The NTSB is on
scene and takes over the investigation, and still to come
the Sheriff versus TMZ. The Death and Life of Kobe
(26:32):
Bryant is a production of KFI News at I Heeart Media,
Los Angeles or the I Heart Podcast Network in Los Angeles.
I'm Steve Gregory.
Sunday morning, January our Zabayan was piloting a private helicopter
with Kobe Bryant, Bryant's daughter and their friends to a
basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks, California. Along the way, he's
a buying, encountered fog and was in constant contact with
air traffic controllers. Everything seemed normal until to echo ACTRA
(00:27):
you're still at level for following radio silence two Echo actrascount.
I'm Steve Gregory in Los Angeles and this is the
death and life of Kobe Bryant. Helicopter crashed into a mountain.
(00:53):
We heard it and now I'm looking at the flames
Malibu Canyon and Agora Road on the Ari Juan Supermarket.
We can see it. I'm at four two three five
Lost Virgins Road. I just towed a helicopter door re
me approximately from Loss Hills Road at went over my head.
It's quick and clouds and then I just heard a
(01:15):
pop and it immediately stopped. Yes, that was just clarifying
where that plane went down. It's right behind the loss
Or Metropolitan Water District, Los Virginus Metropolitan Water District, laid
behind the building. The flames have gone out. I can
(01:35):
just see smoked down barely anything last Virginism Mahad Yes, okay,
yeah it's not it's not maholl And. It's too far south,
So what's a better locations. I can tell my units
behind the Corporate Water District building about a quarter of
a mile up in the hills. Okay, I can see
the flames still. By now, fire and rescue crews have
(01:57):
arrived on scene and some actually had to be airlifted
to the crash site. Captain Tony and Brenda was a
public information officer with the Los Angeles County Fire Department
and met reporters down at the bottom of the hill
who had been sent there to the scene, not knowing
at the time who was on board. Still early on
in this incident, we received a call just before ten
am this morning l a County Fire dispatch of an
(02:19):
aircraft down here in uh the Malibu area, right off
the Lost Virgins essentially Calabasas, right off the Lost Virgines
Road here and apparently some folks were out here mountain
bike in this morning and saw an aircraft in distress
that went down into the hillside. Um there. This was
a helicopter it's been confirmed that it was in S
(02:41):
seventy six so Korsky helicopter and unfortunately there were no survivors.
Um Right now, we're in the very early phase of this.
We still have some fire activity on the hill, so
La County Fire Department units are are doing a progressive
hoseley right now to get water up. The aircraft is
down pretty far from the old so we're having to
put several hundred feet of hose in to get up
(03:03):
there to cool down the scene. And right now we're
waiting for the arrival and TSB investigators. There's not much
more to add right now. We're still in the very
early phase of this. We just know that it's multiple
fatalities and there were no survivors. Los Angeles County Sheriff
Alex v In a WAVA remembers getting the call. I
got a phone call from a EID. I was in
uh I believe uptown wire and he said, hey, there's
(03:26):
been a helicopter crash in in the Lost Hills area, Calabasas,
which is not unusual and of itself, because it happens
every few months. There's always a crash with a fatality too.
He said, no this is I got a lot more
of his nine and one of them maybe Kobe every
calibrator right there, realizing, oh boy, so made a B
line home, got changed out and we made a bee
(03:47):
line over to Lost Hills station. Knowing what that entailed,
the onslaught of the media, and of course as as
we're driving over there, we're asking all the impertinent questions.
Make sure that all the operational things that happened. They
set up a perimeter. Uh, they got a containment are
set up. They have people that are assisting with actually
(04:08):
going to the site to see if there are any
survivors and to render aid because we typically we're going
to get there before fired us on almost every scene.
And uh then fire. It was so remote that fire
had to be flown in to access it. I think
it took our guys almost forty five minutes to hack
their way to the point of it because there was
(04:29):
no clear trail that they knew of at the time
because they're going on visual, so they huffed it on
foot to get there. For those involved, there was one
of those events that they were never gonna forget. I
was in the newsroom that morning. I was filling in
as an anchor for a coworker, and as I was
writing my newscast, I noticed an alert pop up on
our news wire service, Kobe Bryant dyings in helicopter crash.
(04:52):
I paused for a moment to let that sink in.
I thought it was a hoax. I went down the
hall to our sports affili to ask their staff, but
they hadn't heard anything yet. I decided to call a
source with the l A County Sheriff's Department, who actually
confirmed it was Kobe. And when I saw the alert
pop up again, it also added the source of the
information to TMZ Sports and we'll explore that angle in
(05:15):
a future episode. It was time to break into our
regular programming kf I am sixty Breaking News. I'm Steve
Gregory in the KFI news center. This is breaking news
coming from the KMFI news room. We are being told
that Lakers star Kobe Bryant has been killed in a
helicopter crash in Calabasas. There was a helicopter crash early
(05:38):
this morning around am. The only County Sheriff's Department says
the helicopter is a Sikorski and it was registered to
the f A A as a private helicopter to Kobe Bryant.
We're told that others on board were also killed, not
including Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's wife. Again from the KFI
new Center, we're just being told moments ago it's been
(05:58):
confirmed that Basketball let and Kobe Bryant has died in
a helicopter crash. We'll have more at the top of
the hour on kf I Am six forty. More stimulating talk. Now,
back to more stimulating talk on kf I Am six.
Behind the scenes, I'm calling my news director and program director,
and after a brief discussion, it was decided our station
would go into what we call wall to all coverage.
(06:19):
That's when we blow out commercials and bringing our talk
show host to actually anchor live coverage. The other story
we've been focused on that day was about a strange
flu like virus that had been discovered in Wuhan, China,
and whether or not it was a danger to southern California.
I did have an opportunity to sit down exclusively with
Eli County Sheriff v and Wave to ask him a
lot of questions about that day. As he looks back,
(06:40):
one of them was when he thought it was time
to talk with the media and why the crash had occurred.
We had a potential up to nine victims that we
could not confirm the identity of any individual victim, and
so everyone else ran with a story that was COVID
because somebody got ahold. I think through TMZ that they
already put together. They had the manifest of the flight
(07:04):
and they had all the names, but we weren't going
to confirm anyone until we got that from the corner.
So within a few hours of the accident, the sheriff
and Elly County's fire chief had their first press briefing
in front of the Sheriff's departments. Lost Hills Substation in Calabasas.
Personnel from Las Hils Sheriff's states and responded to the
scene of the crash site and assisted the fire department,
(07:26):
and we've established a containment area. And now our Aero
Bureau has a handle on traffic aircraft accidents. However, when
there's a fatality then it switches to the National Transportation
Safety Bureau the NTS, and the Federal Aviation Administration the
f A. A f A is already unseen and assisting.
(07:46):
We're waiting the rival of the Corners Office to assist
in the recovery of the remains. As the chief indicated
there were no survivors. We have a manifest that indicates
that there was nine people on board the aircraft, the
pilot plus eight individuals. Uh, there is wine speculation and
whose identities are. However, it is being entirely inappropriate right
(08:08):
now to identify anyone by name until the Corner has
made the identification through their very deliberative profits and they
made notifications and next of kin, and it would be
extremely disrespectful to understand that your loved one of those
parents that you learn about it from TMZ. That is
just wholly inappropriate. So we're not going to be going there,
(08:30):
and we're gonna wait till the Corner does their job,
and we're assisting the families of those who believe there
have been impacted. And it's a it's a it's a
tough process, and our hope goes out to all of
the members they were on board, all the family of
everyone who was on board this aircraft, and uh, God
bless their souls. So at this point in time, we
have nothing that we can add until the Corner does
(08:53):
her job. And we'll be making those notifications. When we
have the information and we know the next of kin
have been notified, then we can release the information publicly
that you'll be notified in subsequent announcement. This was only
supposed to be a briefing. Neither the chief nor the
sheriff would answer questions, but that doesn't stop reporters from
thrown out a few actually of nine bodies there at
(09:17):
the scene. That is that is our belief. Yes, back
at the Campfire radio station, we were in full swing
with wall to wall coverage. Feel absolutely horrible is and
and probably no fault of his own. I'm sure he
was being begged for that clearance, but whoever gave him
the clearance at the Burbank airport. Absolutely we're hearing more
about who else was on board that plane, and according
(09:39):
to a Calabasas city official, they have confirmed to NBC
that there was a teammate on her basketball team also
on board, and we're hearing that Orange Coast College baseball
coach John Alto Belly was also on board. This has
been confirmed by Orange Coast College John Alto Bell. So
(10:01):
it seems maybe he and and and a daughter. Maybe
that was a teammate of GS was also on board
that helicopter. Here's Kareem Abdul Jabbar and his emotional response
to the losing a friend of his, Kobe Bryant. It's
very difficult for me to put in words how I
feel about the loss of Kobe Bryant as a young boy.
(10:26):
News conferences is starting here, so we'll play that for you.
Adam Silver has released a statement saying that the NBA
family is devastated by the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant
and his daughter Gianna for twenty seasons. He says, Kobe
showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with
an absolute devotion to winning. He was one of the
most extraordinary players in the history of our game, with
(10:47):
accomplishments that are legendary. Coming up, the NBA catches word
of the tragedy as the death and life of Kobe
Bryant continues. Yah sixteen teams in the NBA were scheduled
(11:14):
to play that day, and they all paid tribute in
their own very unique ways, including the game between the
Raptors and the spur They have decided that whoever wins
the tip, and in this case Toronto. They are going
to let the shot clock run out because of the
number twenty four to honor Cope cry The Clippers were
also scheduled to play the coach at the time, Doc Rivers,
(11:36):
was stopped by some reporters just before the games. H M,
(12:05):
you know, I don't know, uh, you know, Uh, I
just don't have a lot to say. The news is
just devastating to everybody who knew him, who knows him
(12:26):
in a long time, and uh, you know, he just
he meant He means a lot to me obviously. Um,
you know, he was such a great opponent. Yeah, this
is this is a tough one. I don't uh, we
(12:46):
have to go play. Uh, I mean, the news is
just devastating for for Vanessa and his and his family,
and um, there's just so many people he touched, you know. Um,
and you know it's looking at my young players and
seeing how emotional they are, uh you know, and uh
(13:10):
it just tells you how far has reached us. So um,
and this is just shocking news for all of us.
And sorry, I don't have a lot to say. I
just can't have to go talk to a team before
a game and tell him to play again. We're talking
exclusively with l A County Sheriff alex Via Nueva as
(13:33):
he looks back on the day of the accident. I
asked him why it was important to have a second
briefing that night, especially since there was no new information. Well,
there's some things that are just straight logistical practical that
we needed. We need to discourage people from going there
because they had flooded all the streets, The lookie lows
were out in force. We had one fool who actually
in the middle of the night tried to you know,
(13:55):
hike through the brush to get to the crash site.
So we had to have twenty four hour security on horseback.
We had departs on horseback and on a t V
s patrolling the perimeter. By now it's nightfall in the
l A County Sheriff and other officials have gathered for
a second briefing and press conference. Good evening, everyone. Purpose
of of tonight's press up day is to give you
(14:16):
an idea of what's gonna be the next steps of
this uh, this process, this investigation is going to be
and everyone's role, as you can imagine, this is gonna
be very extensive process. It's gonna take not just days,
but weeks for us to get to recover from this.
And as the other count of Shriffs Department, we're working
with our federal partners, which is NTSB and the f
(14:36):
a A in a system during the course of this investigation,
and the f A is already unseen and they've provided
very invaluable assistance. They've secured a five mile of flight
restriction for the area of the crash site and also
five thousand foot ceiling over it, so that is a
great help in securing the crash site. As you may
(15:00):
already heard from the NTSP, they're already in route to
our location to initiate the investigation. We want to thank
our partners in the Early County Fire Department for their
timely response putting out the fire and secure in the area.
And right now it's uh as you can imagine, it's
all logistical nightmare in a sense because the crash site
(15:20):
itself is not easily accessible. However, we're now faced with
I guess well wishers and people morning who have descended
on the area, on the residential community and even the
crash site itself, and we have to reiterate it is
off limits to everybody. Except the first responders and investigators.
So we now have personnel deployed to get people away
(15:44):
from there, and they cannot access to crash site. It
is in very rough terrain, very dangerous even in daylight,
much less in the middle of the night, So we
just want to people stay away. The location itself is
in a residential community or adjacent to residential community, and
there are no businesses, and we want to have the
(16:04):
roads free for first responders and for investigators. If you
do not have an identification establishes you as a local resident,
you will not be permitted access to the area, and
there are road closures in effect right now. So now
I want to turn it over to a to UH.
Dr Lucas, good evening. My name is Dr Jonathan Lucas.
(16:25):
I'm the Chief Medical Examiner for the County of Los
Angeles UM. Today our department had multiple members of our
Special Operations Response Team that we're on site. Um are
recovery efforts began today, but as the Sheriff UH mentioned,
(16:48):
given the terrain and the condition of the site, UH
we expect that this will probably take at least a couple,
if not a few days to complete the recovery Our
priority is completing the recovery as quickly as possible, but
but but safely, UH and thoroughly and UM and doing
(17:10):
that to make sure our staff are, like I said,
are safe. UM. Our next priority after recovery is identification
and notification of the families, all of all of which
will do as soon as we possibly can. I also
want to emphasize that we'll be doing our work thoroughly, quickly,
(17:31):
and with the utmost compassion. So again, we really we
offer our condolences to the families at this point, and
I just want to reassure everybody we're doing everything we
can to confirm identifications and give closure to the families involved.
Thank you. Coming up. A sportscaster and longtime friend of
Kobe's is in shock as the death and life of
(17:54):
Kobe Bryant continues. Y Vic the Brick Jacobs is a
(18:35):
fixture on l A Radio. He's been a sportscaster for
decades and is a regular on kl A C A M.
During our wald Wall coverage on KFI, we were able
to get him to come on. It wasn't easy, but
Vic fought back tears as he looked back on his
relationship with Kobe. This is such a living nightmare for
all of us, For new Kobe, It's touched our lives,
(19:03):
a transcendent spirit, a profound essence. I'm not just an
insanely great basketball player, but one who, at forty years old,
was this beginning to blossom. I think, Shannon, you were
talking about that earlier is so true. He had so
(19:23):
much to give, you know, he gave all he could
on the court. Every possession he bowled like it was
his last possession of his freaking life. That's how he
played the game. He was taped up like a mummy
by Gary VD on hundreds of occasions, and I'd see
(19:44):
him in the lake, a locker room. I'd see in
the training room with VD, and he was in such pain.
But he knew, he knew people wanted to see him
and see his lust for hoop. And he has such
an incredible lust and desire for winning. You know. Thus,
(20:05):
you know he evolved into the Mamba. But I knew
Colbe when he was seventeen, twenty four years ago, when
he first came to town from Philadelphia rookie on the Lakers.
He was going to play summer ball in Long Beach
at the pyramid. I called this hotel room, and I said, Colby,
(20:25):
this is vic the brick looked to come and see
you and say hi, and the cities are excited. And
he said, sure, come on down. They came to his hotel.
We're eating French fries together in his room, and he
was iced up to his hip. Even at seventeen. He
was preserving his body like like I had never seen before.
(20:47):
He had such he was so in tune, you know,
with with the whole you know, mind, body and soul
of Hoop. But on the court, unparalleled love of the game,
Harold Old desire to win, unparalleled love of the city
of Los Angeles, of the world. You know. He was
(21:10):
the first to go to China to open up that
bridge of harmony through hope. No no, no one had
the you know, the wisdom and really the division of
Kobe Bryant. Everyone just saw him. He was he was
a hardass. So you can't talk to this guy. But
my my experience with Kobe was one of a young
poet at seventeen. And when I first saw him at
(21:32):
Long Beach, I'll tell room, I said, I'm in the
presence of a poet. I knew I knew he was,
you know, beyond basketball. He was. He was so strong,
he was he had this iron will about him, this
indomitable spirit I knew would transcend the game. And it has.
I mean, he's done so much for basketball. But also
you know when he retired a few years ago and
who could get his last game when he dropped sixty
(21:53):
on Utah, I mean, come on, I can barely move
and said he was in pain. It was injured. He's
still He knew the fans were there for him. He
wanted to give you one last incredible memory. Indelible. It's indelible.
His whole career is indelible. I was on the court
with him his first big shot against Phoenix, the playoff game,
and I was right behind him when he gave his
first primal scream at the Downtown Hoopdo Joe. And I
(22:16):
was right behind him in my poncho and my purple
and gold fur and right behind him, you know, screaming,
you were the one, you were the one. You were
the way he were the way, and Kobe Bryant is
the way. He's a gone among men. It's a gone
among men. We've all been, you know, horrifically affected today.
Not just called me the basketball player. I called me
the person. He loved his four daughters and to have
one have she should go down with him as this
(22:37):
is this, you know, beyond a nightmare. I first heard it,
you know, via reports, you know, the various you know
media giants K five of course an turn K five
T MZ. And I just started crying my eyes out
and cried and cried because we all loved him. Some misunderstood,
(23:07):
you know, everyone thought he was this crazy, crazy, hardass
dude who with no emotions and basically that was a
way to motivate himself. But with my with me, and
I told you, you know, since he was seventeen, I
could see, you know, his transcendence as a man. He
(23:29):
was such an ancient soul in a seventeen year old body.
And not not did he elevate the game of basketball,
you know and spread it, you know, the good will
you know, not just a China, but but everywhere you know,
he's he used to speak in many languages after the
game in this postgame interviews because of the international you know,
(23:50):
grew up in Italy, you know, with Joe and when
you know his father was Joe Bryant's Joe jelly Bean
Bryant was a wonderful basketball player. And I, you know,
I tenner and BASKETBA player in Europe very early. And
you know called he grew up in in uh in Italy,
you know, watching the videotapes of the NBA and getting inspired,
(24:10):
you know, ten tho miles away and some crazy apartment
in Rome and just basically building his psyche. But he
was always so in tune with the game and so
in tune with life. He loved his he loved his
daughter so much. While crews were still working at the
crash site thirty miles southeast in downtown Los Angeles, the
(24:31):
annual Grammy Awards were about to go live at Staples Center.
Here we are singer songwriter Alicia Keys together on music's
biggest night, celebrating the artist that do it best. But
to be honest with you, we're all feeling crazy sadness
(24:52):
right now because earlier today Los Angeles, America and the
whole wide world lost a hero. And we're literally standing
here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built. A
(25:21):
lot of people were scrambling behind the scenes at the
Grammys that night, including Alicia Keys. She and the group
boys two men were able to put together at the
very last second a song to pay tribute to Kobe.
The guitar and mass lead all wait the bed Hi
(25:47):
and Not memo to be coming up in episode three.
(26:09):
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. The NTSB is on
scene and takes over the investigation, and still to come
the Sheriff versus TMZ. The Death and Life of Kobe
(26:32):
Bryant is a production of KFI News at I Heeart Media,
Los Angeles or the I Heart Podcast Network in Los Angeles.
I'm Steve Gregory.
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