Vanessa Bryant wants to see the government pass a “Kobe and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act” following the deaths of her husband and daughter.
The NBA star and his 13-year-old daughter lost their lives in January alongside seven other people when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in California, and now Kobe’s widow Vanessa is rallying politicians to get behind a new safety act to help stop the tragedy from happening a second time.
According to TMZ, the act – shortened to KGBHSA – was introduced to lawmakers on Thursday (18.06.20), and requires helicopters that carry six or more people to contain important safety equipment including a Terrain Awareness and Warning System, a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder.
Showing her support for the act in a statement, Vanessa said: “I strongly urge that the United States Congress pass a federal law that would improve the safety of helicopters operating in this country. I believe there is a chance that Kobe and Gianna would still be alive today if their helicopter had been equipped with the safety equipment required by this pending federal legislation.
“I believe that these safety measures will save many lives.
“As passengers traveling on aircraft, we assume that proper safety measures are in order to prevent accidents from happening before we fly. It’s unfortunate that this is not the case and aircraft companies must do their part to protect lives.”
The news comes after Vanessa, 38, was recently reported to be seeking “hundreds of millions of dollars” in damages from both Island Express – who owned the helicopter involved in the crash – and the estate of the late pilot Ara George Zobayan, to help cover the cost of losing her loved ones.
Documents filed earlier this month read: “As a result of Kobe Bryant’s and GB’s deaths, Vanessa Bryant seeks economic damages, non-economic damages, prejudgment interest, punitive damages, and other relief as the Court deems just and proper.
“Although the total specific amount of personal injury damages that Plaintiff seeks is TBD, Kobe Bryant’s future lost earnings equal hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Vanessa has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Island Express and Zobayan – who also lost his life in the crash – after alleging several flight rules were broken at the time of the incident.
