Pemicu Kecelakaan, Helikopter Kobe Bryant Terbang Terlalu Rendah kata ATC
Kobe`s Doomed Final Journey: "You`re Flying Too Low"
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
HELIKOPTER yang membawa Kobe Bryant, dan putrinya, Gianna, dan tujuh pelainnya yang menabrak lereng bukit di luar Los Angeles terbang dalam kondisi cuaca berkabut yang dianggap cukup berbahaya sehingga kepolisian setempat memerintahkan untuk mendarat.
Helikopter Bryant meninggalkan Santa Ana di Orange County, selatan Los Angeles, tak lama setelah pukul 09:00 waktu setempat, ketika kondisi tidak layak untuk terbang, menurut Departemen Kepolisian Los Angeles.
Cuaca mendung di ketinggian hampir 400 meter dan jarak pandang sekitar lima mil. Pilot itu terbang di bawah aturan penerbangan visual (VFR), yang berarti bahwa ia mengandalkan kemampuannya untuk melihat medan di bawahnya. Sekitar pukul 9.20 pagi, helikopter itu berputar selama sekitar 15 menit di sebelah timur Interstate 5, dekat Glendale.
Pengendali lalu lintas udara (ATC) memerintahkan untuk menaikkkan ketinggian bagi pesawat lain selama sekitar 11 menit, sebelum mengijinkan Sikorsky S-76 untuk melanjutkan penerbangan ke utara di sepanjang Interstate 5 melalui wilayah udara Burbank.
Pengendali lalu lintas udara mencatat jarak pandang yang buruk di sekitar Burbank, tepat di utara, dan Van Nuys, ke barat laut. Karena visibilitas yang buruk, pilot menghubungi pengendali lalu lintas udara dan meminta untuk beralih ke aturan penerbangan instrumen (IFR), yang akan memungkinkannya untuk menavigasi melalui awan.
Namun, ketika pilot terbang di bawah IFR, itu bisa makan banyak waktu, terutama di California Selatan, yang wilayah udaranya tergolong sangat sibuk.
Pesawat berlanjut di bawah VFR dan sekitar pukul 09.40 berbelok ke barat untuk mengikuti US Route 101, Ventura Highway.
Sekitar jam 9.44 pagi, helikopter berputar lagi, ke arah tenggara, dan naik hingga ketinggian lebih dari 609 meter, dalam upayanya untuk menempatkan jarak antara helikopter dan dataran tinggi. Kemudian turun dan menabrak lereng di ketinggian 426 meter di atas permukaan laut, menurut data dari Flightradar24 seperti dilansir MailOnline.
THE HELICOPTER carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others that crashed into a rugged hillside outside Los Angeles was flying in foggy conditions considered dangerous enough that local police agencies grounded their choppers.
Bryant's helicopter left Santa Ana in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, shortly after 9am, a time when conditions were not suitable for flying, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
There was an overcast at 1,300 feet and visibility of about five miles. The pilot was flying under visual flight rules (VFR), meaning that he was relying on his ability to see the terrain below him. Around 9.20am, the helicopter circled for about 15 minutes just east of Interstate 5, near Glendale.
Air traffic controllers (ATC) held up the helicopter for other aircraft for about 11 minutes, before clearing the Sikorsky S-76 to proceed north along Interstate 5 through Burbank's airspace.
Air traffic controllers noted poor visibility around Burbank, just to the north, and Van Nuys, to the northwest. Due to the poor visibility, the pilot could have contacted air traffic controllers and requested to switch to instrument flight rules (IFR), which would have allowed him to navigate through the clouds.
However, when pilots fly under IFR, it can take up a lot of time, especially in Southern California, which has an extremely busy airspace.
The aircraft continued under VFR and around 9.40am it turned west to follow US Route 101, the Ventura Highway.
At about 9.44am, the helicopter turned again, toward the southeast, and climbed to more than 2,000 feet, in an attempt to put some space between the helicopter and the high terrain. It then descended and crashed into the hillside at about 1,400 feet, according to data from Flightradar24.
