Vanessa Bryant has filed a wrongful death lawsuit following the passing of her husband Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter.
Meanwhile, news of the lawsuit comes as Mrs. Bryant shared an emotional tribute at the public memorial held for the Los Angeles Lakers star. The event held at the Staples Center yesterday, 24th February was well attended with family and friends offering support for the bereaved family.
Legendary player Michael Jordan after offered a moving eulogy, as he remembered Kobe Bryant whom he referred to as a ‘little brother’ and ‘great friend’.
The 41-year-old NBA legend and his daughter Gianna were among nine people to lose their lives when his private helicopter crashed in Calabasas almost a month ago as earlier reported, and now Vanessa has filed a lawsuit against Island Express, the company that owned the aircraft.
According to documents obtained by TMZ, Vanessa claims the helicopter should never have been placed in the situation it was in before the incident on January 26, as Island Express allegedly broke several flight rules.
The lawsuit alleges the company was only allowed to fly under visual flight rules, and the conditions on the day of the crash were not conducive for such flying, as there was low fog.
Documents also claim the pilot was traveling at 180 miles per hour in the fog in a steep decline and alleges he made a number of other errors in judgment on the day.
Vanessa is alleging Ara George Zobayan – who also lost his life in the crash – failed to properly monitor and assess the weather prior to takeoff, failed to obtain proper weather data prior to the flight, failed to abort the flight when he knew of the cloudy condition, failed to maintain control of the helicopter, and failed to avoid “natural obstacles” in the flight path.
The lawsuit says the pilot was previously disciplined in 2015 for violating the visual flight rule minimums by flying into airspace of reduced visibility and claims the helicopter was not safe but does not specify why.
Vanessa’s document doesn’t list the amount of money she is seeking in damages, but she is asking for punitive damages, as well as damages for “pre-impact terror”, which is the emotional trauma suffered by Kobe and Gigi before the crash.
The 37-year-old beauty – who also has 17-year-old Natalia, three-year-old Bianka, and eight-month-old Capri with Kobe – is also seeking damages for loss of love, affection, care, society, service, comfort, support, right to support, companionship, solace or moral support, and expectations of future support and counseling, as well as money for loss of financial support and for burial and funeral expenses.
