After Vanessa Bryant filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ara Zobayan, the helicopter pilot that crashed and killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, and daughter, Gianna, his representative claimed that passengers were at fault for the accident. In the new court documents, Berge Zobayan, Ara's brother and representative, argued that the famed LA Lakers players and the rest of his group were to blame for what happened.
Just like Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and six other passengers in the helicopter crash, Ara Zobayan died, too. Hence, the pilot's brother, Berge Zobayan, maintained that they were all to blame for the fatal incident.
In the legal documents obtained by Hollywood Life, it noted that "any injuries or damages to plaintiffs and/or their decedent were directly caused in full or in part by the negligence or fault of plaintiffs and/or their decedent." Allegedly, the passengers knew and voluntarily encountered the risks that could possibly happen. Hence, their negligence was the main reason that caused the crash, and the defendant had no responsibility for it.
Berge Zobayan was demanding to have a jury trial and even listing Kobe Bryant's surviving daughters, Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, ten months, as plaintiffs. The kids' mother, Vanessa Bryant, filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Ara Zobayan and the helicopter company, Island Express, on February 24. She was seeking "compensatory and punitive damages," causing a helicopter crash that killed her husband and daughter.
In the investigation update that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released on February 7; they found no evidence of engine failure or mechanical issues relating to the crash. The inquiry is still ongoing today.
According to 9News, other families who lost their loved ones from the crash also filed lawsuits but didn't include Ara Zobayan as a defendant. The families of the crash victims Christina Mauser, John Altobelli, and his wife, Keri, and daughter, Alyssa, filed a wrongful death claims against Island Express. The lawyer who represented the two families filed separate complaints about damages, accusing the company of being negligent and careless.
To recall, the death of Kobe Bryant surprised everyone when the helicopter he was on board, along with her daughter and seven other people, crashed into hilly terrain due to over foggy conditions on January 26. They were supposed to land to the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, for a youth basketball game that would have involved Gianna when it tragically went down in Calabasas.
