Indeed they could have traveled by limousine instead, but then they might have perished in a road accident, for all we know. There's no point in second-guessing the passengers' preference to fly, especially since flying is statistically safer than traveling by road anyway.

Yes, spatial disorientation, but not CFIT. The pilot lost control of the aircraft, and did not regain it before impact.

It's not for you to judge as a "waste" how others spend their money.

@@cardinalRG Well they didn't even make it to the game, so I'd say that was a HUGE waste....

Your comment is asinine. Bryant didn't kill anyone, a pilot's mistakes did. Nothing else. Neither Bryant, nor any passenger is to blame for it, in any way.

@@cardinalRG he was insisting to take off despite the warnings, his chopper had no altitude sensor as the official report says, he was the owner and the boss, he always been an arrogant f, just because you are black you do not have to stand for a douche who caused their death, it is like being one of them Nazi Juice denying genocide in the making, grow up dude

Your comment is ignorant nonsense. The aircraft was properly equipped, including an altimeter and all other critical instruments. Both the aircraft and pilot were qualified for flight in even zero visibility.

@@cardinalRG the facts say otherwise

@@TamasPanyi --My information is verifiably correct, and you don't know what you're talking about. Open your mind and learn something, friend.

@@cardinalRG sure, we are all stupid capable of critical thinking being well informed, but you are an expert with your biased head up in your head buddyjoe

@@TamasPanyi --You don't speak for everyone, and neither do I. And yes, I am an expert compared to you. More importantly, my information is confirmed by every other expert source you could possibly look to, including FAA records and its official investigation. The hard facts are available to anyone willing to do an ounce of effort and lift his Google finger. But you've skipped any research and jumped to pure guesswork instead. If you disagree, then please cite your sources.

Good question. Flying by instruments is an acquired skill, not a natural one, and it can degrade or even go away entirely without regular practice. (It's not like riding a bike.) This is true even with highly experienced pilots, and history reveals many accidents by seasoned pilots who were simply out of practice, with respect to ability or judgment, or both. (e.g., Scott Crossfield, Frank Tallman.) The accident pilot's experience in actual instrument conditions (IMC) was a paltry percentage of his total hours, even considering that he mostly flew in a fair-weather region. It strikes me that at the time of the accident, he was no longer proficient for prolonged flight in IMC.

@@cardinalRG Thanks for the reply. I guess that’s got to be a realistic scenario. Still, you’re a pro flying into a cloud bank and you don’t have confidence in or just instinctively switch to flying in IMC. You can’t see anything but you don’t check your artificial horizon. Wow. Really appreciate your time and the information.

I agree. I mis-heard that when I created the video.

The passengers wanted to get from one place to another, and weren't in a position to assess the conditions for flight. That was the job of the pilot, whose judgment the passengers naturally trusted.

Your comment is asinine. Bryant wasn't a pilot, nor did he otherwise have the expertise to assess the pilot's qualifications. And the accident pilot's luring shortcomings weren't even evident to the genuine experts who knew him. So to blame Bryant for the accident merely because he "hired" the accident pilot, is literally blaming a victim for a pilot's mistakes. Do better.

its for helicopter nerds who like to learn. not a glue eating momo such as yourself

_"...could have been prevented by the pilot simply looking at their attitude gauge. "_ Yes and no. A properly rated pilot is indeed trained to fly by instruments to not only maintain controlled flight, but to recover from spatial disorientation, if the disorientation is mild-to-moderate, and with altitude and time permitting. But if the disorientation is severe enough, then a pilot may lose the ability to "read and heed" the instruments altogether. In such a scenario, a pilot could be staring right at the instruments, and be unable to assimilate and act upon their indications. The aircraft is then unrecoverable.

Your comment is asinine. Don't you like to save time when you can? Don't you opt for convenience when you have the opportunity to do so? Have you never flown on an aircraft in your life, because if you have then you've ignored your own advice to "just drive"?

@@cardinalRG the fact he can have this, while people strave? no just drive like the rest of us, eat the rich. He didnt fly like th rest of us, go pray to capitalism somewhere else