Vanessa Bryant and others have agreed to settle a lawsuit against the helicopter company involved in the deadly 2020 crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others, according to a notice in federal court.
The terms of the settlement are confidential and must be finalized, according to the notice filed Tuesday in federal court.
Island Express Helicopters, Inc., the company that operated the Sikorsky helicopter; its owner, Island Express Holding Corp.; the estate of the pilot, who died in the crash; and another company agreed to settle the claims, the document says.
The suit was brought by Vanessa Bryant and family members of the others who died in the crash.
Attorneys for Bryant declined to comment. An attorney for Island Express Helicopters did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday evening.
The Los Angeles Lakers icon and his daughter Gianna Bryant, 13, died in the Jan. 26 helicopter crash in Calabasas, northwest of Los Angeles. The crash also killed Payton Chester, 13; Sarah Chester, 45; Alyssa Altobelli, 14; Keri Altobelli, 46; John Altobelli, 56; Christina Mauser, 38; and Ara Zobayan, 50.
Zobayan was the pilot. Federal transportation safety officials said in February that the pilot likely had an episode “of spatial disorientation.”
As Zobayan encountered the marine layer that morning, the pilot appeared to go against federal guidelines by flying into the fog, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
