Kobe Bryant helicopter crash: All 9 bodies recovered from wreckage, investigators say
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The last of the nine bodies was recovered Tuesday from the wreckage of a helicopter crash that killed Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant and eight others on Sunday, according to investigators.
Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and six other passengers were killed, along with the pilot, when the chartered Sikorsky S-76B plowed into a cloud-shrouded hillside in Calabasas, Calif., as the retired NBA star was on his way to a youth basketball tournament in which Gianna was playing.
The rugged terrain made the recovery operation difficult.
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"It was a pretty devastating accident scene," National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Monday evening.
Investigators reached the crash site by ATVs on Monday morning.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Three bodies had been recovered from the scene on Sunday.
"The search continued for the other six helicopter occupants. Soon after, their bodies were located, removed from the crash site and transported to the department's Forensic Science Center," the coroner's office said in a statement.
The seven others who died Sunday in the crash have been identified.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gianna Bryant, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester were all teammates. Christina Mauser was their basketball coach at Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Payton’s mother, Sarah Chester, and Alyssa’s parents, John and Keri Altobelli, were also killed. John was a longtime baseball coach at Orange Coast College who at one point in his career coached New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ara Zobayan was the pilot.