Kobe Bryant's helicopter pilot may have been disoriented by fog before crash, per report

No official cause has been released on the crash that killed Bryant

The investigation of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant in January is ongoing, but on Wednesday, the release of a report from the National Transportation Safety Board offered new insight on what might have happened that morning. That report, obtained by the Associated Press, indicated that pilot Ara Zobayan might have "misperceived" the pitch of the aircraft due to the foggy weather at the time. Zobayan told air traffic controllers over the radio that he was climbing to 4,000 feet to get above the clouds for better visibility, but was in fact plunging. Eventually, he crashed into a hill in Calabasas. 

No official cause for the crash has yet been disclosed, and the complete investigation was expected to take over a year even before the coronavirus pandemic delayed the process. Blunt force trauma was listed as the cause of death for Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the other seven passengers on board. It had previously been released that Zobayan did not have drugs or alcohol in his system on the day of the crash. 

Bryant's widow, Vanessa, is taking legal action against a number of parties involved in the accident. She is suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for sharing photos of the crash, and the owners of the helicopter as well as Zobayan's estate for the wrongful death of her husband and daughter. That litigation is ongoing and will not be resolved for quite some time. 

The NBA has mourned Bryant since his death in January, and in addition to the various tributes given at every NBA arena, the league renamed the All-Star Game MVP award after him in February.