Following in the footsteps of Kobe's widow Vanessa Bryant, families of former college baseball coach John Altobelli and girls basketball coach Christina Mauser are suing the helicopter company for negligence.
- Apr 20, 2020
AceShowbiz - Families of four victims in the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna have filed wrongful death lawsuits. Former college baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and their daughter Alyssa, who played basketball with Gianna, along with girls basketball coach Christina Mauser were among the nine people on board the chopper which crashed on their way to Kobe's Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks on January 26, killing all of them.
Now, the surviving members of Altobelli and Mauser families have followed in the footsteps of Kobe's widow Vanessa Bryant by suing the chopper company, Island Express. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, they claim the company "negligently and carelessly breached its duty to own, lease, manage, maintain, control, entrust, charter and operate the helicopter in question in a reasonable manner."
As noted in the lawsuit, the private chopper flew despite weather conditions not being up to the LAPD "standard for flying." In the morning of the deadly helicopter crash, the LAPD had grounded its fleet of helicopters due to bad weather.
The surviving family members claim the loss of their loved ones has caused "an insurmountable amount of anguish on every level - physical, emotional, mental and otherwise." The families are seeking damages, both over their own turmoil and also for what their loved ones could have earned themselves if they had survived the crash and continued to work.
The New York Times reported shortly after the crash that the company was not licensed to fly by cockpit instruments when visibility was compromised. However, the pilot, Ara Zobayan, was given special clearance to fly, according to CNN.
The company previously responded to Vanessa's suit, which was filed in February, that the crash was a tragic accident.
