Kobe Bryant autopsy reveals star died of blunt trauma with catastrophic brain injury and 30% burns in chopper disaster
KOBE Bryant died of blunt trauma with catastrophic brain injuries and 30 percent burns, an autopsy has revealed.
The NBA star was killed in a helicopter crash in January, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
Los Angels County Medical Examiner-Coroner released autopsy reports for all victims on Friday, four months on from the January mountainside chopper crash.
The graphic reports told of the devastating effect of the impact – describing broken bones, dismembered body parts and a stench of fuel on what remained of clothing that burned.
The autopsies showed that the sole cause of death for all nine victims was blunt force trauma, and the office certified the manner of death for all as accidental.
The helicopter's pilot, Ara Zobayan, 50, did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system, according to the coroner's report.
The only drug Bryant was found to have in his system was methylphenidate, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, the Lakers star's report read.
The graphic report made it clear: Bryant and the passengers almost certainly were dead in an instant due to blunt trauma.
“These injuries are rapidly if not instantly fatal,” wrote Juan Carrillo, senior deputy medical examiner, in Bryant’s report.
Along with Kobe, 41, Gianna, 13, and Zobayan, the victims of the crash were: 13-year-old Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, 46, 14-year-old Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, 46, John Altobelli, 56, and Christina Mauser, 38.
The autopsy reports state: "On January 28, the cause of death for all nine decedents was certified as blunt trauma. The manner of death was certified as accident."
Bryant’s body was found on one side of the wreckage and his daughter was found in a ravine on the opposite side.
Previously, the Los Angeles County coroner announced their causes of deaths as "blunt trauma,” following an examination of all nine victims on January 28.
Bryant's helicopter crashed while travelling to a basketball game at the Mamba Sports Academy's Thousand Oaks location, in California.
The Sun Kobe Bryant's nickname as its a "painful memory" for widow Vanessa.
The chopper had been reportedly flying at about 184 miles-per-hour in "blinding fog" when it plunged more than 1,000 feet in about a minute, crash-landing into a fireball on a mountainside.
Following the crash, Kobe's wife, Vanessa hit the aircraft's owner, Island Express, with a 72-page lawsuit.
Vanessa Bryant filed the complaint - which also lists Kobe's daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri as plaintiffs - on the same day that she delivered a heartbreaking eulogy for both her husband and daughter at a memorial for the two in Los Angeles.
Federal authorities are still investigating the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not concluded what caused the crash on the outskirts of Los Angeles County but said there was no sign of mechanical failure in the Sikorsky S-76. A final report is not expected for months.
ONGOING LAWSUIT
The firm and the pilot, Defendant Zobayan, were described as "wanton, willful, callous, reckless and depraved" in the court document.
The owners of the doomed helicopter by stating Kobe and Gigi were fully aware of the risks they were taking when they decided to fly.
They claim Venessa has no case against them — in part because the foggy weather conditions were an “act of god."
In its response to the lawsuit allegations, the company states: "Kobe Bryant and GB [Gigi] had actual knowledge of all of the circumstances, particular dangers, and an appreciation of the risks involved and the magnitude thereof, and proceeded to encounter a known risk, and voluntarily assumed the risk of the accident, injury.... thereby barring or reducing [Vanessa's] claim for damages."
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Bryant is the only NBA player to have his team retire two numbers in his honor. He was selected last month for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A ceremony is scheduled for late August though it may be delayed until at least October because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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