'Flying was the passion of his life': the pilot of the crashed helicopter Kobe Bryant was an Armenian

The helicopter on board of which was Kobe Bryant was flown by an American of Armenian origin Ara Zobayan. Writes about it US51.

Фото: Depositphotos

Zobayan’s friends talk about him in social networks as a person who trained many novice pilots.

A basketball player's helicopter crashed 30 miles (48 km) from Los Angeles. In addition to Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, seven more people were on board. According to WFAA, the pilot was able to prevent the death of people on earth. According to reports, Ara Zabayan at the last moment managed to lead the falling helicopter from the residential suburbs of Los Angeles.

The main cause of the disaster could be a thick fog, media reported, citing police officers.

“The weather situation did not meet the minimum standards for flights. The fog was such that our helicopters could not fly,” said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Josh Rubenstein.

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In the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilot certification database, Zobayan is listed as a certified pilot who received a commercial pilot license in 2007, writes The Sun.

He is also a certified flight instructor for helicopter pilots.

Also, 50-year-old Obayan had the right to fly in conditions of limited visibility. As of July 2019, it had 8 hours of flight time.

Zobayan for the first time decided to become a pilot in 1998, after he made a sightseeing tour of the Grand Canyon, and "immediately realized that he wanted to become a pilot," ABC News.

“He worked hard at other companies to save enough money to pay for his education. “Flying was the passion of his life,” Group 3 Aviation said about the pilot.

The pilot and flight instructor had no accidents before Sunday's crash, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in California. Zobayan received his first private pilot license on January 21, 2001, and his commercial pilot license on December 3, 2007, writes Daily Beast.

But long before that, he learned to fly at Group 3 Aviation, a private flight school in Van Nuys, California. Zobayan came to the small academy in 1998 and quickly became part of their community, according to school president Claudia Lowery. “This is where Ara learned to fly,” she said. — Ara worked here. We have known him since 1998. He is not only a dear friend to us, but also family."

After learning to fly, Zobayan worked as a flight instructor. One of his students, Darren Kemp, told the newspaper that Zobayan briefly worked as Bryant's personal pilot. “Bryant doesn’t let anyone fly with him except Ara,” Kemp said. Kemp and Zobayan were close, the student recalled how his teacher helped him get through a difficult divorce.

Zobayan later hired a pilot at Island Express Holding Corporation, a family-owned helicopter charter company that contracted Catalina for local tours and was listed as the owner of the helicopter. By the time of the crash, this helicopter, Sikorsky S-76B, was about 30 years old. It was owned by the state of Illinois for several years, after which it was sold to Island Express in 2015.

In the recordings of Zobayan’s conversations with air traffic controllers published, one can hear how the pilot activates the so-called “Special Rules for Visual Flight”, which means that air traffic controllers can help him discover what he does not see.

“If you listen to the audio recordings,” the pilot said. “I need you to track me because I’m in bad conditions.”

Jared Yohim, a pilot who said he worked as a Chevron contractor in Angola and had known Zobayan for 12 years, said it was important to give federal officials time to investigate before drawing conclusions about his friend.

“I guarantee you that any flight that Ara made was completely safe. He is a rule follower and knows all the regulations,” he said.

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Zobayan's plane crashed to the ground at about 09:47 local time. According to authorities, a full excavation of the crash site will take about 8 days.

“I love all Armenians!” Maria Dajkovic wrote on Facebook. — I met Ara many years ago. This is such a big loss. Ara was full of kindness. Rest in peace, Ara. May God bless all who died."

Another pilot, Jared Joachim, paid tribute to his friend through a post on Facebook. Asbarez:.

“Ara was an incredible pilot, instructor pilot, charter pilot and truly a great person. “He wasn’t your typical egotistical helicopter pilot like, frankly, most of us,” Joachim wrote. “Ara was a person who always remained calm and collected. As more people who know Aru write about him, you'll only hear words like "professional" and "loving." He always made everyone laugh."

“Working in the aviation business has allowed me to meet some pretty amazing people and pilots. Ara was definitely one of them. Always so sweet, talkative and especially attentive when it comes to Kobe and his family. My heart is broken,” the pilot’s friend wrote on Twitter.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• January 26 Former Los Angeles Lakers Basketball Player Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles. Together with him, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven more people on board died.

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