The identities of all nine victims who died with Kobe Bryant aboard a downed helicopter on Sunday morning have been identified by the Los Angeles Police Department and multiple reports.
Among those who lost their lives along with Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and their daughter Alyssa, who was a club basketball teammate of Gianna’s. Also aboard the helicopter was Christina Mauser, an assistant girls basketball coach at an elementary school in Orange County, California.
The remaining three passengers were identified on Monday as pilot Ara Zobayan and Sarah Chester and her daughter, Payton, 13.
Riley Chester, the son and brother of the victims, said on Instagram: “Rest In Peace to the most amazing Mother and sister. I love you Pay Pay and Mom RIP,” accompanied by two heart emojis and pictures of them, per the New York Post.
Zobayan was an “instrument rated” pilot, according to KTLA 5 reporter Christina Pascucci, which “means he was rated to fly in fog/clouds.” Several of Zobayan’s friends have identified him as the pilot of the helicopter, per Pascucci.
The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter carrying everyone aboard was traveling to basketball practice at Bryant’s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, when it went down in the nearby foggy hills west of the San Fernando Valley Sunday at about 10 a.m. PT, officials said.
The crash caused a wildfire that was contained to the Calabasas crash site, which was not near any homes or major roadways. When authorities arrived at the mountainside area, they found no survivors in the fiery wreckage.
Investigators from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner quickly arrived at the scene and personnel from DMEC’s Special Operations Response Team recovered the bodies.
The site is still being preserved for federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
As of Tuesday morning, all nine bodies were recovered from the scene.