The Kobe Crash

It happens infrequently, thank God.
A helicopter crashes with a politician or other celebrity aboard and the event garners national attention. And with today's wonderful technology, it almost always turns out that people are dead because someone did something stupid.
This Kobe Bryant crash is no different. The investigation continues and it's possible, but unlikely, we'll hear something electronic or mechanical failed. And even if that's the case, we know stuff is gonna fail and train for that eventuality. It's called "EMERGENCY PROCEDURES" for a reason.

I started training people to fly helicopters in 1969. At first I was teaching people not only to fly safely, but to survive flying a machine while folks on the ground were trying to shoot your machine out of the air. It was an important job, and I took it VERY seriously.

I became a civilian "Certified Flight Instructor". I was glad I no longer had to worry about someone on the ground trying to kill my students and the folks aboard their helicopter. But I knew there were still great dangers lurking for them... their worst enemy continued to be their decision-making processes.

Helicopters are amazing, wonderful machines. I have always argued they're safer than airplanes.
Ask anyone who has a decent amount of time in both, (like me), and they'll agree. When things begin to vibrate and make a funny sound, airplane guys get a map out or punch the "closest airport" button on their GPS.
Helicopter pilots look right beneath their aircraft for an open area about the size of a tennis court.
"We're landing there to check this out!"

All pilots know the term "Get-home-itis".
It describes the pressure a pilot feels to press on and complete the mission, even when their GUT is telling them doing so is dangerous.
Accident investigations are rife with fatal accidents caused by the phenomenon.

It's still possible something failed on Kobe Bryant's helicopter. As a helicopter pilot and instructor, I actually hope it turns out Kobe's pilot didn't make a stupid decision and kill himself and all aboard that gorgeous Sikorsky S-76. It's sad and odd, hoping it was some sort of mechanical/electronic failure. But I always told my students, "If your gut is telling you that you should be on the ground, listen to it!"
All it takes is a tennis court-size open area.
More than forty people are walking around today with licenses to fly helicopters in their pocket because I recommended them to the FAA. None have killed themselves so far, thank God.

It's gonna take a LONG time for the final results of the cause of this accident to be revealed.
But no matter what, it probably was an unnecessary tragedy.