Rescuers recovered the bodies of all nine victims from a helicopter crash near Los Angeles that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, the coroner’s office confirmed Tuesday.
Three bodies were retrieved from the scattered wreckage by a special response team on Sunday – the day of the crash.
The remaining six were located as the search resumed in rugged terrain Monday.
In a statement, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said the remains were ‘removed from the crash site and transported to the department’s forensic science center’ for examination and identification.
Bryant, 41, was traveling with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when the Sikorsky S-76 slammed into a rugged hillside in thick fog in Calabasas, northwest of Los Angeles.
Also killed were John Altobelli, 56, longtime head coach of Southern California’s Orange Coast College baseball team; his wife, Keri; and daughter, Alyssa, who played on the same basketball team as Bryant’s daughter; and Christina Mauser, a girls’ basketball coach at a Southern California elementary school.
Another young player, Payton Chester, was also killed in the crash along with her mother Sarah Chester.
The pilot, Ara Zobayan, 50, was the ninth victim. He was the chief pilot for the aircraft’s owner, Island Express Helicopters. The company said the pilot had more than 10 years of experience and had logged more than 8,000 flight hours.
He also was a flight instructor who had flown Bryant and other celebrities several times before.
Zobayan was instrument-rated, which means he was qualified to fly in fog.
Investigators said they are ‘actively working on’ identifying the individual remains before officially notifying next of kin.
A five-time NBA champion for his only team, the LA Lakers, and a double Olympic gold medalist, Bryant was widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history.
He was traveling on his private helicopter from Orange County, where he lived, to his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks where his daughter was set to play.
Investigators will remain at the site of the crash throughout the week to collect evidence, hoping to find clues as to what caused the accident that stunned the world.
Jennifer Homendy, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, described the accident scene as ‘pretty devastating,’ with wreckage spread across about 600 feet.
Though officials are still investigating the cause of the crash, several experts have questioned why Zobayan took the flight despite the weather conditions.
Robert Ditchey, a veteran airplane pilot, aeronautical engineer and former airline executive, told USA Today that the crash ‘was totally avoidable’.
‘And on the part of some people I can go as far as to say irresponsible,’ Ditchey added.
‘Here’s one of the most important people in the world who comes to a tragic end like this and you say, “Why? What the hell happened?”‘
Bryant’s helicopter left Santa Ana in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, shortly after 9am on Sunday, a time when conditions were not suitable for flying, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.