Victims in Kobe Bryant crash identified; Armenian pilot among them

Victims in Kobe Bryant crash identified; Armenian pilot among them

PanARMENIAN.Net - Nine people, including the Armenian-American pilot Ara Zobayan, were on board the Sikorsky S76 helicopter that crashed and claimed the lives of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and all other passengers on Sunday, January 26.

The helicopter crashed in foggy weather in Calabasas, California on Sunday killing everyone on board.

The luxury aircraft was being flown by Zobayan, who, according to records was an instrument-rated pilot — meaning he was qualified to fly in fog.

Friends were mourning him on social media Sunday night, saying that he taught aspiring helicopter pilots to fly and that he was loved within the aviation community, Fox reports.

The latest victim to be identified by friends and family was Christina Mauser, an assistant basketball coach at Harbor Day School in Corona del Mar.

Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa confirmed that baseball coach John Altobelli was one of the victims, as were his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa.

Sarah Chester and her middle school aged daughter Payton were on also on board the helicopter

Bryant had coached Gianna’s AAU basketball team out of his Mamba Sports Academy training facility in Thousand Oaks for the past two years.

They were all reportedly headed to an AAU game when the crash happened.

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