The 9 victims of that fatal helicopter crash have all been identified. College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife and their daughter were on board.
Assistant basketball coach Christina Mauser was on board – leaving behind her husband and three young children.
Payton was on Gianna’s basketball team – she was on board with her mom Sarah Chester – who were headed to the game where they were meant to play.
Ara Zobyan was the pilot. He was an experienced pilot who had over 8,000 hours of flying time under his belt.
The helicopter crashed a little bit before 10am on Sunday. Officials say there was extremely low visibility in the area at the time.
Local police said the weather conditions in the Calabasas area at the time did not meet the minimum standards for flying
Flight data revealed that the pilot realized it and made a 180 degree turn and steep climb upwards to turn away from the fog.
But during the turn it appears the helicopter ran into the side of a mountain that was not visible to the pilot due to thick fog.
There was no black box in the helicopter, but an iPad the pilot used for flight plans and weather briefings was recovered.
It’s now been revealed that Kobe Bryant had filed paperwork trademark Gianna’s nickname “Mambacita” for her own sports brand less than month ago.
