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Kobe Bryant among 5 killed in Helicpoter Crash

I know it's way too soon to think about stuff like this but so soon after losing Doc it just seems like so many deaths like these happen in small private aircraft in a way that it doesn't really in just regular air or road travel. Obviously I don't have numbers supporting that but, I mean, it really feels like it's not a good way to travel.
 
Nik Bethune said:
...I don't have numbers supporting that but, I mean, it really feels like it's not a good way to travel.

When it comes to air travel you're correct. I can't find much in the way of any recent stats for USA but a "Fortune" piece from a few years ago said that for the USA:

https://fortune.com/2017/07/20/are-airplanes-safer-than-cars/ said:
...Americans have a 1 in 114 chance of dying in a car crash, according to the National Safety Council. The odds of dying in air and space transport incidents, which include private flights and air taxis, are 1 in 9,821. That?s almost three times better chances than you meeting your fate by choking on food.
 
Hey Sportsnet.  Maybe don?t zoom in on people grieving while they are having private conversations.  It?s incredibly tacky.
 
This guy is like my wife's family's Gretzky, people here are really melting down.

So sad, his daughter was already tipped to be the best WNBA'er of all time, she was a star at 13 already.
 
A lot of unconfirmed stuff going around social media that seems to be debunked a few minutes later. Maybe best not to lean too heavily into any of it.
 
Nik Bethune said:
A lot of unconfirmed stuff going around social media that seems to be debunked a few minutes later. Maybe best not to lean too heavily into any of it.

Woj has the news on his daughter too.

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1221537476893925376
 
Yeah, I just saw that and Woj is pretty solid but he's still attributing it to "Sources" so...I don't know. I'm not criticizing anyone for posting it, just saying we may not want to jump the gun. YMMV.
 
Really weird to be watching this Raptors game. You can tell the players are pretty wrecked. You've got people crying in the stands...kind of feels like this shouldn't be happening.
 
Nik Bethune said:
Really weird to be watching this Raptors game. You can tell the players are pretty wrecked. You've got people crying in the stands...kind of feels like this shouldn't be happening.

I kind of liked the discussion that Rautins and Devlin had though.  Kobe?s reputation was mamba mentality and being forced to be dragged off the court.  A tough game to play but going out and playing through the pain might be the best way to honour him. 
 
L K said:
Nik Bethune said:
Really weird to be watching this Raptors game. You can tell the players are pretty wrecked. You've got people crying in the stands...kind of feels like this shouldn't be happening.

I kind of liked the discussion that Rautins and Devlin had though.  Kobe?s reputation was mamba mentality and being forced to be dragged off the court.  A tough game to play but going out and playing through the pain might be the best way to honour him.

I get the symbolism they're going for there and for sure if a player decided to play hard today in his honour I'd think that was appropriate. I'm not saying that by playing they're being disrespectful of Bryant, I'm saying that in the immediate aftermath of this where players are very visibly grieving on court that it's probably too much to expect that guys focus on some sort of symbolic commemoration of his legacy and caring about a basketball game vs. just, you know, being emotional.
 
It is a shame we don?t understand human psychology well enough to generate this kind of emotion for the thousands who die from malaria or who wish to flee from war or violence or for the many other preventable causes of death and suffering.
 
The California mountains can be pretty brutal especially in light of dense fog.

According to officials, the weather conditions were subpar:

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Josh Rubenstein said the department?s Air Support Division grounded its helicopters Sunday morning because of foggy conditions and didn?t fly until the afternoon.

?The weather situation did not meet our minimum standards for flying,? Rubenstein said.

At this point, engine failure dies not appear to be in the mix, according to some:

Kurt Deetz, a former pilot for Island Express Helicopters who used to fly Bryant in the chopper, said weather conditions were poor in Van Nuys on Sunday morning ? ?not good at all.?

The crash was more likely caused by bad weather than engine or mechanical issues, he said. ?The likelihood of a catastrophic twin engine failure on that aircraft ? it just doesn?t happen,? he said.


https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-26/kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash-dense-fog-investigation
 
princedpw said:
It is a shame we don?t understand human psychology well enough to generate this kind of emotion for the thousands who die from malaria or who wish to flee from war or violence or for the many other preventable causes of death and suffering.

Hear hear.
 
Hobbes said:
Nik Bethune said:
...I don't have numbers supporting that but, I mean, it really feels like it's not a good way to travel.

When it comes to air travel you're correct. I can't find much in the way of any recent stats for USA but a "Fortune" piece from a few years ago said that for the USA:

https://fortune.com/2017/07/20/are-airplanes-safer-than-cars/ said:
...Americans have a 1 in 114 chance of dying in a car crash, according to the National Safety Council. The odds of dying in air and space transport incidents, which include private flights and air taxis, are 1 in 9,821. That?s almost three times better chances than you meeting your fate by choking on food.
Pretty devastating news.  I took some helicopter training when I was young and even though the technology is way better on the machines than 40 years ago, they are still incredible dangerous aircraft compared to fixed wing.  According to the latest information they were flying in foggy conditions, they shouldn't have been flying in those conditions.
 
TML fan said:
Sounds like pilot error with a case of "get-there-itis" thrown in.
Ya pretty much the same "get-there-itis" that killed JFK Jr and his wife and her sister.  A Limo ride may have taken a bit longer but they may have still been here.
 
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