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THE PILOT OF the helicopter that crashed while carrying Kobe Bryant and his daughter to a basketball tournament in California did not have alcohol or drugs in his system, according to the autopsy report.
Ara Zobayan (50) was taking the Bryants and six others to a youth tournament when the chopper slammed into the mountains west of Los Angeles, killing all nine on board instantly.
“Toxicological testing did not detect the presence of alcohol or drugs of abuse,” the Los Angeles County coroner’s report said.
The clinical report described the carnage at the 26 January crash scene and said that all the victims died of blunt force trauma. The manner of death for each was listed as accidental.
The investigation showed the helicopter was traveling at 296 kilometers per hour when it crashed into the hillside after running into heavy fog and cloud cover. Police said the helicopter plunged several hundred feet before impact.
The report said the 41-year-old Bryant had injuries to nearly his entire body. ”These injuries are rapidly if not instantly fatal,” a medical examiner wrote of Bryant.
His 13-year-old daughter Gianna also died in the crash.
Bryant did not have any drugs in his system except Ritalin – a drug typically used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity and narcolepsy.
Also dying in the crash were two youth basketball teammates of Gianna Bryant: 14-year-old Alyssa Altobelli and 13-year-old Payton Chester.
Others who died were Altobelli’s parents John and Keri, Chester’s mother Sarah and basketball coach Christina Mauser.
Vanessa Bryant, the basketball star’s widow, previously filed a wrongful death lawsuit against helicopter operator Island Express.
Bryant won five NBA championships for the Los Angeles Lakers during 20 NBA seasons. He was the NBA’s most valuable player in 2007-08, a 15-time all-NBA selection, and an 18-time all-star.
He was twice named MVP of the NBA finals and was the all-star game MVP four times.
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The news story from Alabama was actually a very positive one and voted on democratically by the people there. Pity that it’s being shown as a negative in this review
@Sinéad Talbot: okay okay we get you’re drift
@Sinéad Talbot: Its a fkin desperate piece of news. Skummy Trumps America. Full of self righteous fake Christian zealots.
@Noel Doherty: # “your”
@Sinéad Talbot: except it wasn’t. They voted to make it so the state wasn’t funding abortion, there was absolutely nothing about criminalisation. In fact they were told it wouldn’t be criminalised. But keep ignoring the truth all you want.
Yes it’s very positive to take a woman’s right to choice away from her!!I’m being sarcastic.
@Declan Heagney: when you say you’re being sarcastic is that sarcasm? It just seems a little too superfluous.
The news story from Alabama was actually a very positive one and voted on democratically by the people there. Pity that it’s being shown as a negative in this review
@Sinéad Talbot: it was NEVER voted on by the citizens of Bama and that’s total fake news as the Funky Gibbon in the White House would want you to believe Please educate yourself and don’t be so gullible
@Sinéad Talbot: We heard you already.
Anyone know why the comments on the shay lawless articles are closed. Given that Simon Coveny has now promised to assist retrieving his body with tax payer money this seems like a subject we should be able to discuss.
@Ivan Connolly: in previous articles posted on the Journal in recent days there have been a lot of very negative comments aimed at the climber and especially regarding the collections of money for someone who knew the risks involved. Many were saying that people who undertake these journeys are selfish – not thinking of anyone apart from themselves etc. and others were saying how disgraceful some of the comments were. I presume the journal weighed up the situation and thought that in this instance the needs of family and respect for the (presumably) deceased would supersede a person’s right to comment.
The news story from Alabama was actually a very positive one and voted on democratically by the people there. Pity that it’s being shown as a negative in this review
@Sinéad Talbot: will you fk off trolling please?
@Ian Breathnach: just because you disagree with Sinead’s comment you think that gives you a pass to begin a tirade of abuse? So it can snow in May after all!!
Please delete the two repeat comments of mine! It told me it didn’t post the first two times, obviously a tech error
@Sinéad Talbot: your mistake, Sinéad, you need to live with it.
@Helen Clifford: once created, posts should never be aborted…
@Sinéad Talbot: you fascist bot ….
Great news from Alabama.
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