This.
By just casually following, I wasn't even aware that there were more than him and his daughter killed until this morning.
Almost as if the other 7 don't count.
Sign of the times, I guess...

Flash's comments are fine to me - a non-majority opinion presented without inflammatory language. So is pushback against them, again assuming that we can refrain from needless trolling. I think that some people can see it as poor taste, and some other people can point out that we tend to be overly sentimental about celebrity in this culture, and that a certain amount of intellectual honesty may result in opinions that push back against hagiography.

I'm not sure that Paceline is or ever has been devoted to the free exchange of ideas. The censorship is much stronger than I would like, but I still find it useful and interesting to hang out here for both on and off-topic discussion.

This was kinda my thought as well. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, brothers and sisters and friends die too early every day in tragic ways. I think all these situations are worthy of our sympathy.

This is one that I was really hoping was fake news when I first saw it pop up. Sadly, no. R.I.P. Kobe, thanks for the memories.

I have not read this entire thread. But, it occurs to me that people die all over the world every day. That is the very nature of our existence. Most deaths go without the fanfare associated with the death of an athlete or movie star. Any death is a cause for reflection, but I fail to see the need that people have to publicly comment on death of famous people as a result of their elevated public status. I suspect there was a death yesterday of a person or people who made great sacrifices for others and gave great assistance and comfort to others during their lives. Perhaps more so than a famous athlete. Yet, their deaths generally go without the hoopla surrounding the death of an athlete or movie star. I imagine there are few people who post comments on the local funeral home website commenting on the death of a person they never met. Just an observation.

I think people can only comment on the one death that has a tie to them (In response to why the other passengers aren't being celebrated). As Laker fans and Los Angelinos, the connection we shared with Kobe from a 17yr old, is really deep. I was told at a young age to never idolize or worship idols. The only thing I'm telling my friends, is to use his death as a way to reflect on the real meaningful moments you've shared with people who truly care about you. The guys that bought you beers watching Kobe play. The memories when he hit big shots, the people that were with you screaming when he passed to Ron Artest for that huge 3, the dunk over Nash when Kobe was the real MVP that season. I can pin point the people and places I was at because of Kobe and the Lakers, and those people/places mean everything to me.

Sports is a necessary distraction for society I feel, that creates real bonds with real people. It's a conduit for friendship. When you start young, you forge friendships over sports (Little league, Pop Warner, AYSO, etc). That shouldn't be lost. When Kobe passed, all I thought about was every moment I was with someone because of him. Those people mean more to me than the celebrity. The names on the jerseys fade away, but the memories with people you truly care about are never lost. I won't shed a tear, but I give thanks and I'm not going to judge him because of his past. My friend from Boston posted something that was super deep about him (Court transcripts), and it hit home for me. She means more to me than the celebrity who did what he was accused and ultimately admitted too. Out of the respect for her and the things she's been through, I immediately identified meaning in his death. Again goes back to why we should never idolize these people..

This is a great response. It captures the complexity of the situation. The little boy in me that needs to believe in the infallibility of superheroes cried last night. The adult in me knows that the totality of someone's character matters.

So when Eddy Mercx passes away you don't even think it is worthy of any comments?

I have never followed the sport of basketball nor golf for that matter but I know who Bryant and Tiger are, anyone who picks up a paper or reads the news online must have come across those names at some point. The first thing I thought when I heard that was I wondered how many people were on board and if there were any survivors.

But I can at least see how many people who spent lots of time watching this man perform to near perfection in a sport they love would be upset. Further I'd say it seems kind of sad to me to not have anyone to look up to. Most of the ones I look up to are musicians and guitar makers. I'll definitely be sad when for example Jorma Kaukonen, Bob Dylan or Tony Iommi dies.

And it would be a logical fallacy to assume that just because someone is sad that someone they look up to has died that they completely disregard the others they never met who died on the same day.

Beautiful post. Thank you.

This. Not a fan of pro basketball or the man, but his kid dying and his other children not having a father really sucks.

No problem and special VFR is 1 mile vis and ‘clear of clouds’, isn’t it? Doubt he had 1 mile vis. Bottom line is it looked like this is pilot error, 100%. Too bad.

I’ve been reflecting and reading the comments here and elsewhere, wondering a bit about why I feel so affected by Kobe’s death. I never met him, never even saw him even though he was a fixture here in “The OC”. I guess I didn’t realize how deeply he was ingrained into our culture and our individual psyches.

For better or worse, we develop emotional connections to public figures. I am probably more of a music fan than a sports fan, and there are musicians whose passing will be gut-wrenching for me. I realize that many people feel the same way about athletes. It’s a way to connect with greatness that most of us can’t ever achieve. Is our culture overly-obsessed with celebrity? Probably. Should we admire a medical researcher or a social worker more than an athlete? Probably. But I’m still feeling bad about the death of a basketball player. It turns out he was a big part of my life.

Yes, 1mi vis, CoC

AP has an article with this diagram, drawn from FlightRadar24 data. Indicates (to me) that the pilot made it through the valley but possibly became disoriented (or lost visual contact with the highways they were following and thus situational awareness) and flew too far southeast into the hills.

Pilot apparently (presumably, possibly, guessing, total WAG) mis-interpreted Las Virgenes Road as the 101 and accidentally followed it instead*. I've done that, chosen the wrong road when flying VFR.**

*Shades of the Corey Lidle crash, where he accidentally flew north up the East River instead of the Hudson River -- an easy thing to do if you're not familiar with the area. The East River ends in a daed end into New York ATC airspace so instead of calling La Guardia for help they tried to make a tight 180-degree turn but instead got blown into a skyscraper by strong easterly winds.

**We would call that "IFR": I Follow Roads.

Why fly "special VFR" through very busy complicated airspace? Why scud run among 3000-foot hills? Why not just file IFR and let ATC take you over everything, taking care of your navigation and traffic separation needs; for that short a trip they'd just give you radar vectors to destination. My guess is time constraints (filing, processing, getting clearance, and release would take a lot more time than just "get in and go and we'll deal with it in the air, which is bull****, since it's a 10 minute process); "get there-itis" (we have someplace we really need to be); and complacency (we shoot the valleys along these roads all the time).

Newport News, Virginia Police Officer and Navy veteran Katie Thyne was killed Friday on the job. She leaves behind a 2 year old daughter.

Her assailant (and prior felon) fled the scene and was later arrested and charged with felony homicide, eluding and drug possession.

She mattered so much more than some retired guy. If that dude in the copter hadn't been rich, he'd have had prior convictions too. SAD.

Correct on the SVFR visibility. The pilot held to the east of the Burbank/Van Nuys area until he received SVFR clearance through the class B/C airspace. He got into trouble after he left that airspace and reverted to helicopter VFR (clear of clouds) in the class G airspace. Yup, bottom line = pilot error. Very sad for everyone in that copter.

Greg