Vanessa Bryant, Other Families To Settle In Wrongful Death Lawsuit With Helicopter Company
A settlement against the company that owned the helicopter involved in the crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, and seven others in Jan. 2020 has been reached by Vanessa Bryant and the family members of the other victims.
According to court documents filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday (June 22), the terms of the agreement are confidential, People reports.
The lawsuit was filed in Feb. 2020 by Vanessa against Island Express Helicopters and claimed that the pilot Ara Zobayan “failed to properly monitor and assess the weather prior to takeoff,” “failed to abort the flight when he knew of the cloudy conditions,” and “failed to properly and safely operate the helicopter resulting in a crash.”
On Jan. 26, 2020, Kobe and Gigi were headed to a youth basketball game at Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, with John Altobelli, 56; Keri Altobelli, 46; Alyssa Altobelli, 14; Sarah Chester, 45; Payton Chester, 13 and Christina Mauser, 38, when the helicopter crashed into a mountain.
Zobayan also died in the crash.
The settlement comes two days after Vanessa honored her late husband marking the second Father’s Day after his death.
“To the best girl day - Happy Father’s Day, Papi. We love you forever and always, always and forever. Love you always, Nani, Gigi, B.B., Koko and VB,” she wrote.
