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Kobe Bryant crash: autopsies finds pilot not on drugs or alcohol, victims died of blunt force trauma

  • The basketball legend and eight others were killed in a helicopter crash in the Calabasas hills outside Los Angeles on January 26
  • Coroner’s reports describe broken bones, dismembered body parts, and conclude that the victims died instantly

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Kobe Bryant, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years and was a National Basketball Association legend, was killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020. Autopsies found the nine victims died of blunt force trauma. Photo: Reuters
Associated Press
The pilot flying NBA legend Kobe Bryant and seven others to a youth basketball tournament did not have alcohol or drugs in his system, and all nine sustained immediately fatal injuries when their helicopter slammed into a hillside outside Los Angeles in January, according to autopsies released on Friday.

The reports by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office ruled blunt force trauma was the official cause of the deaths, and provide a clinical but unvarnished look at just how brutal the crash was, describing broken bones, dismembered body parts and a stench of fuel on what remained of clothing that burned.

One of the most popular sports figures in Los Angeles and a celebrity around the globe, Bryant was broken beyond recognition when his body was found in the dirt outside the wreckage of the chopper. His remains had to be identified by his fingerprints.
Investigators work the scene of a helicopter crash that killed former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant and eight others in January. Photo: AP
Investigators work the scene of a helicopter crash that killed former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant and eight others in January. Photo: AP

The coroner’s portion of the investigation, which began on January 28, is now considered closed. A federal investigation remains underway and there are civil cases pending. Six doctors from the coroner’s office conducted the autopsies of the nine deceased.

The graphic report made it clear: Bryant and the passengers almost certainly were dead in an instant due to blunt force trauma. “These injuries are rapidly if not instantly fatal,” wrote Juan Carrillo, senior deputy medical examiner, in Bryant’s report.

The horrific crash that killed the 41-year-old retired Los Angeles Lakers star, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, pilot Ara Zobayan and the others is considered accidental.

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