All 9 bodies recovered from Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash

The nation on Monday mourned the demise of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others, who were killed when their helicopter plunged into a steep hillside in Southern California. Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter were travelling to his basketball academy in Thousand Oaks, California when the incident happened. (Photo: IANS)


Investigators have recovered all of the nine bodies from the site of the helicopter crash which killed retired NBA star Kobe Bryant and his teenage daughter, authorities said.

Three bodies were recovered Sunday, the day of the accident, from the helicopter wreckage located in the 4200 block of Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas, California, and another six were located the next day, Xinhua news agency quoted the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner as saying on Tuesday.

Investigators have already identified three men and one woman who were on the aircraft.

They are John Altobelli, Kobe Bryant, Sarah Chester and Ara Zobay, said the department.

The five remaining were yet to be identified.

The helicopter crashed in steep terrain on Sunday morning leading to a quarter-acre brush fire.

All nine people on board, the pilot and eight passengers, were killed.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was looking at pilot records, weather information, air traffic control communication and the wreckage as part of the investigation, said NTSB member Jennifer Homendy.

There was no black box on board the helicopter, nor was one legally required, she added.