Basketball Star And His 13-Year-Old Daughter Were Fatally Injured In California Accident

The widow of basketball star Kobe Bryant, who along with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others were fatally injured when the helicopter they were aboard impacted terrain in California last month, has sued the helicopter operator for the wrongful death of her husband and daughter.

The 72-page suit was filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. In the filing, Vanessa Bryant is seeking unspecified general and punitive damages for her loss. The defendants named in the suit are Island Express Helicopters, its holding company and the heirs of pilot Ara Zobayan, who was among those fatally injured in the January 26th accident.

Reuters reports that the suit alleges 28 counts of negligence and "breach of duty". It holds that the defendants failed to exercise "ordinary care in piloting the subject aircraft" and "in providing proper and safe aircraft services."

According to the court documents, the suit alleges that Zobayan “failed to properly monitor and assess the weather prior to takeoff, failed to abort the flight when he knew of the cloudy conditions, and failed to keep a safe distance between the helicopter and natural obstacles.”

The suit alleges that the cause of the accident was a "direct result of the negligent conduct of Zobayan for which defendant Island Express Helicopters is vicariously liable in all respects.”

The flight was conducted in IFR conditions, and while Zobayan was certified for IFR helicopter operations, Island Express was only allowed to fly passengers for hire under visual flight rules, according to the NTSB's preliminary report.

In 2015, Zobayan had been rebuked by the FAA for an incident in which he entered restricted airspace without authorization, according to the Reuters report.

(File image provided by the NTSB)

FMI: Source report