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Marc Kennedy calls it the Brad Gushue Effect.
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Helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and 8 others was 20 to 30 feet from clearing a hilltop
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As federal investigators wrapped up operations at the crash site, NTSB member Jennifer Homendy said preliminary information suggests the plane descended rapidly and was likely in one piece before it slammed into the hill.
“The descent rate for the helicopter was over 2,000 feet a minute, so we know that this was a high energy impact crash,” Homendy said. “This is a pretty steep descent at high speed. So it wouldn’t be a normal landing speed.”
The crash occurred about 1,085 feet above sea level, missing the top of the hill by 20 to 30 feet, investigators said. Parts of the helicopter were found scattered around a crash site that stretched 500 to 600 feet, the NTSB said.
NTSB recommended a safety system
On Tuesday, NTSB turned over the accident site back to local authorities after recovering pieces of the wreckage, an iPad, cellphone and documents including maintenance records, the helicopter’s registration and the airworthiness certificate.
The helicopter did not have a terrain awareness and warning system — a safety feature which provides the pilot with information about the terrain, Homendy said.
The NTSB recommended that similar helicopters be equipped with the system after a fatal Texas crash in 2004 that killed 10 people. The Federal Aviation Administration failed to implement the recommendation, Homendy said.
In his last communication with air traffic control, the helicopter’s pilot said he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer, the NTSB previously said. But when air traffic control asked him what he planned to do, there was no response.
Radar data indicated the helicopter climbed 2,300 feet and began a left descending turn, Homendy said.
That last contact was around 9:45 a.m. The first 911 call about the crash came in two minutes later, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said.
Weather experts are studying that morning
That morning had been particularly foggy.
Visibility was so low Sunday morning that the Los Angeles Police Department had decided to ground its helicopters.
But comparing the police helicopters with the one Bryant was flying in — a Sikorsky S-76B — isn’t accurate, Homendy said.
“It’s an apples to oranges comparison. It’s a different helicopter, different operations, they have 4-person helicopters, this is outfitted for more than that,” she said. “We have to look at this specific crash, this specific helicopter.”
The S-76 line serves as offshore oil and gas transportation, air ambulances, executive transport and search-and-rescue aircraft. One aviation expert calls it a “workhorse.”
Homendy said a weather expert on staff is studying the weather that day and the decision-making behind flying Sunday.
Moments before the crash, air traffic control approved pilot Ara Zobayan’s request to fly with SVFR clearance — special visual flight rules clearance — which allows pilots to fly in weather conditions worse than those allowed for regular visual flight rules.
And while she said that clearance is very common and nothing out of the ordinary, Homendy said investigators will look into whether Zobayan should have been granted that special permission.
Families mourn mothers, daughters, siblings
Meanwhile, families are grieving the nine people who died Sunday — including 41-year-old Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.
“The first day was brutal,” Matt Mauser, whose wife was killed, said. “I woke up this morning and I said, ‘I’m OK,’ and then I walked out and I started to cry. And then I saw my kids and I started to cry.”
Christina Mauser was an assistant girls basketball coach, former teacher and mother of three. Her youngest daughter is turning four years old next week. Mauser had been recruited by Bryant himself, her husband said, to help coach a team in his basketball academy.
Three young girls on the helicopter — including Gianna — were on their way to a basketball game in Thousand Oaks.
One of them, Alyssa Altobelli, was flying with her parents, John and Keri.
Another, Payton Chester, was flying with her mother, Sarah Chester.
They all were killed in the crash.
“While the world mourns the loss of a dynamic athlete and humanitarian, I mourn the loss of two people just as important … their impact was just as meaningful, their loss will be just as keenly felt, and our hearts are just as broken,” Todd Schmidt, a former principal at the elementary school Payton once attended, wrote in a Facebook post.
Zobayan, who also died, had more than 8,200 hours of flight time, Homendy said, and had been working with Island Express Helicopters, which owned the Sikorsky S-76B.
The LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner announced all nine bodies had been recovered — four of which were officially identified through the use of fingerprints.
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'BOTTCHER BOMBSHELL:' Alberta curling foursome set to move forward without skip – Toronto Sun
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“He’s been absolutely dominant and the teams under him are going to do everything they can to try to beat him,” two-time Olympian Kennedy said Tuesday.
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“We felt we had to do something in order to accomplish that.”
As such, one of Canada’s premier men’s curling teams dropped a major bombshell, announcing that 2021 Brier-winning skip Brendan Bottcher is now looking for new teammates, just 18 months before the Olympic curling trials.
“Definitely a bombshell and a tough couple days for everyone,” Kennedy said from his home near Edmonton. “Brendan was a fantastic teammate and a good friend and it wasn’t specifically anything that happened. There wasn’t a moment.
“It’s just that we put our team together to try to win some big stuff. A couple of us are on a bit of a time constraint here when it comes to our careers and we just had to ask ourselves ‘Is this the current line-up that’s going to go out there and win some big championships.’ We had some question marks.”
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Gushue, who curls out of St. John’s, N.L., has won the Brier six times in the last eight years and has taken the last three straight. His team also won the Olympic trials in 2021.
Team Bottcher finished third at the Montana’s Brier this year in Regina with a lineup that included Kennedy at third, Brett Gallant at second and Ben Hebert at lead. Those three players, along with coach Paul Webster, will be moving forward without Bottcher, who has been one of the top skips in the country for the last eight years.
Kennedy said the team hopes to announce a new skip within the next 72 hours.
“We knew that if we were going to make a change or make a decision on a new line-up, it had to be quick,” Kennedy said. “We had to have some tough conversations and here we are, all with the goal of trying to win some big stuff.”
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Several curling sources said the front-runner for the job is Brad Jacobs, who threw skip stones for team Reid Carruthers out of Winnipeg this season. Jacobs won an Olympic gold medal in 2014 and has been a strong contender at the Brier, mostly representing Northern Ontario, for many years.
There is also uncertainty about the future of 49-year-old Kevin Koe and his Alberta-based team, which includes Tyler Tardi, Jacques Gauthier and Karrick Martin. Should Koe choose to step back after his team’s disastrous performance at the 2024 Brier, that could be a soft landing spot for Bottcher.
Alberta’s Team Aaron Sluchinski also posted on social media Tuesday that a player announcement is coming soon. Sluchinski beat Koe for the Alberta provincial championship this season.
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“We are not going to be the only domino to fall,” Kennedy said. “That’s the impact that Brad Gushue’s team has had on Canadian curling. It’s forcing teams every year to re-think where they are, re-think where they’re trying to get to and whether they’re willing to make the hard decisions in order to compete with him.
“That’s a really unique thing in our sport that we haven’t seen before. It’s like a Roger Federer situation right now. We don’t want to be status quo and we’re not the only team that feels like that right now, so there will be some changes.”
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Team Bottcher just completed its second season as a foursome. The team was formed after the 2022 Olympics with a goal of not only winning Canada but putting the country back on the top of the international curling scene.
With two-time Olympians and 2010 gold medallists Kennedy and Hebert on board, along with 2022 Olympic bronze medallist Gallant, the team looked like an absolute powerhouse on paper.
But, on paper doesn’t always translate into results on the ice.
“We’re not the easiest team to lead,” Kennedy said. “That’s a big part of it too. We’ve got some big personalities and it takes a special person to be a leader for Brett, Ben and myself, with what we’ve been through in our accomplishments.
“Brendan is an incredible curler and he’s going to win a ton of stuff. His trajectory is upwards and I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes one of the best curlers this country has ever seen. But is it on that timeline of the next 18 months? I don’t know. There are some things to work on.”
The team won two Grand Slam titles during its time together (2023 Canadian Open, 2023 Champions Cup) and rose to the top of the CTRS standings this season.
The team has already earned one of three wild-card spots in the 2025 Montana’s Brier and will keep that spot even with a different skip.
The Olympic curling trials are slated to be played in late November of 2025 in Halifax. The winner will represent Canada at the Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, in February of 2026.
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Canadian athletes are going to be in some pretty sleek outfits when they head to France for the Summer Olympics later this year.
At an event in downtown Toronto today, lululemon unveiled its kit for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
The official kit includes separate outfits for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and outfits for going on the podium, while also featuring outfits for the athletes to wear during their media obligations throughout the Games.
Team Canada athletes in the Opening Ceremony, Podium, Media, and Closing Ceremony outfits for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
Made by Lululemon. pic.twitter.com/Gmx4MNYDCj
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) April 16, 2024
Lululemon’s first go-around with the Canadian Olympic team was the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but this will be their first run at a Summer Games.
A look at all the outfits / via Lululemon
The same outfits will also be worn for the Paralympic Games taking place following the Olympics.
The outfits will be made available for purchase this week online and in lululemon stores across the country.
Olympics Opening Ceremony Outfit/ via lululemon
Media outfit/ via lululemon
Podium outfit/ via lululemon
Future Legacy outfit/via Lululemon
Olympics closing ceremony outfit/via Lululemon
Back in 2021, the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees announced a partnership with lululemon, making it the country’s official outfitter of Team Canada from 2022 to 2028. The deal spans four Olympic Games, and will also be in place for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan, Italy, and the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, California.
Fifteen Canadian athletes were on hand to model the new looks, including a tennis star in 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Kelsey Mitchell, who competes in track cycling.
The lululemon deal replaced the Hudson’s Bay partnership that first began in Torino 2006 and expired after Tokyo 2020.
Canada is looking to build off a strong performance from Tokyo 2020, where they picked up 24 medals, by way of seven gold medals, seven silver medals, and 10 bronze medals, while also picking up 21 Paralympic medals (five gold, 10 silver, six bronze). The Olympics are officially just 101 days from starting, with the Opening Ceremonies set for July 26, and the closing ceremonies set for August 11. Meanwhile, the Paralympics will run from August 28 through September 8.
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And so, now it comes down to this: the regular-season finale against the Canadiens at Bell Centre in Montreal on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, BSDET).
The Red Wings and Washington Capitals are tied for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 89 points, but the Capitals own the tiebreaker (31-27 in regulation wins). The Pittsburgh Penguins have 88 points and 32 regulation wins. The Philadelphia Flyers have 87 points and 30 regulation wins.
Washington and Philadelphia play each other Tuesday in the regular-season finale for each team. The Penguins play the New York Islanders on Wednesday in their regular-season finale.
Bottom line: Detroit needs a point, ideally two points, and some help.
“Going into the season, no one had us in the playoffs,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Most [people] had us picked seventh in the [Atlantic Division]. If you would have told us, ‘You have one game, Game 82 on the road, to improve 11 points over your previous season, to have a chance to make the playoffs,’ every single one of us would have signed up for it. It’s here now.”
That’s true. Going into the season, no one picked the Red Wings to make the playoffs. They had 80 points last season, seventh in the division.
But then they signed forward Patrick Kane as an unrestricted free agent Nov. 28. He looked better than anyone expected after hip surgery.
Detroit went on a 16-4-2 run from Jan. 2-Feb. 27, building an eight-point cushion in the playoff race and raising expectations.
After the Red Wings lost seven straight games in regulation from Feb. 29-March 14, they suddenly found themselves out of the playoff picture. They’ve been in a tight, multi-team competition ever since, sometimes above the cut line, sometimes below it, depending on the day.
They’ve kept fighting.
At Pittsburgh on Thursday, they were down 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period; 3-2 and 4-2 in the second; and 5-3 in the third. But Raymond completed a hat trick to tie it, and they ended up with a point in a 6-5 overtime loss.
At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, they took a penalty late in regulation with the game tied 4-4, knowing if they didn’t get a point they’d be eliminated. They killed the penalty, and they got two points when captain Dylan Larkin scored in OT to give them a 5-4 win.
Against the Canadiens on Monday, they were down 2-0 in the first period and 4-1 in the second. They were down 4-2 entering the third. But they got their 12th third-period comeback win of the season, second in the NHL behind the New York Rangers (14).
“I give the guys a ton of credit to hang in there and then to find a way,” Lalonde said. “We’ve done it all year.”
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