Kobe Bryant ‘responsible for fatal crash as he knew risks of flying & is liable for damages,’ claims helicopter company
KOBE Bryant was fully aware of the risks he was taking when he decided to fly on the day if his fatal crash, the owners of the doomed helicopter have claimed.
Island Express Holdings also state in their response to Kobe's wife Vanessa's wrongful death suit that the basketball player should also be liable for damages on account of his own "comparative and/or contributory negligence."
Those "aggravating circumstances" include "wanton, willful callous, reckless and depraved conduct" by the defendants.
is seeking these punitive damages "to deter future wrongdoing in that the acts and omissions of defendant has manifested such reckless and complete indifference to and a conscious disregard for the safety of others.
"Kobe Bryant ... had actual knowledge of all of the circumstances, particular dangers, and an appreciation of the risks involved and the magnitude thereof, and proceeded to encounter a known risk, and voluntarily assume the risk of the accident, injury, and damages," begins the 11-page answer to Vanessa's complaint.
Lawyers for the defendants write that "all or some of [Vanessa's] claims for relief against [Island Express] are barred due to comparative and/or contributory negligence."
They go on to state: "In the alternative, in the event there is a finding of damages for Plaintiffs, such damages must be reduced to the extent of such comparative and/or contributory negligence."
The National Transportation Safety Board released their initial findings as part of an investigative update on the crash back in February.
In that update, the NTSB stated that mechanical failure did not play a role in causing the crash.
"Our investigators have already developed a substantial amount of evidence about the circumstances of this tragic crash," said NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt.
"And we are confident that we will be able to determine its cause as well as any factors that contributed to it so we can make safety recommendations to prevent accidents like this from occurring again.”
The debris field from the crash stretched close to 600 feet the NTSB confirmed, and "all significant components of the helicopter were located within the wreckage area."
That initial report did not determine what caused the crash.