The family of the pilot who was flying the helicopter that crashed and killed everyone on board, including Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, is blaming the passengers for the crash.
The family of pilot Ara Zobayan, who also died in the crash, responded to Vanessa Bryant’s wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter company Island Express and its pilot.
The Zobayan family said in court papers: “Any injuries or damages to plaintiffs and/or their decedent were directly caused in full or in part by the negligence or fault of plaintiffs and/or their decedent, including their knowing and voluntary encounter with the risks involved, and that this negligence was a substantial factor in causing their purported damages, for which this answering defendant bears no responsibility.”
The family’s response doesn’t make it clear how the passengers could have been negligent in this case.
It’s also not clear which family members responded to the lawsuit. The 50-year-old pilot left behind a longtime girlfriend and her two children who he treated like his own.
Vanessa filed the lawsuit in February, claiming the helicopter should have never taken off due to foggy conditions and that Zobayan failed to control the helicopter.
