Report confirms Kobe Bryant’s helicopter engine did not fail

According to a preliminary report released Friday from the National Transportation Safety Board, wreckage from the helicopter that crashed on Jan. 26, killing NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others including the pilot did not show any evidence of engine failure.

Federal investigators are still trying to unravel the cause of the crash, but have so far concluded that “the engines were working and rotors turning at the time of impact,” writes 6abc.com.

Read more – Date set for Kobe Bryant and Gigi’s public memorial service at Staples Center

The report notes that the damage was consistent with “powered rotation,” according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

“The entire fuselage/cabin and both engines were subjected to a postcrash fire. The cockpit was highly fragmented. The instrument panel was destroyed and most instruments were displaced from their panel mounts. Flight controls were fragmented and fire damaged,” the report said.

According to NTSB officials, the chopper, which was flying using only visual readings, slammed into a hillside amid extremely foggy conditions after departing John Wayne Airport in Orange County at 9:06 a.m. Jan. 26, according to publicly available flight records.

Read More: Sports Illustrated releases today a special edition 100-page book honoring Kobe Bryant

The helicopter — a Sikorsky S-76 chopper built-in 1991, was not equipped with the recommended terrain alarm system that could have warned the pilot he was approaching a hillside. An eyewitness reportedly saw the helicopter for about 1 to 2 seconds before it hit the hill.

“He said he began to hear the sound of a helicopter, which he described as appropriate for a helicopter flying while in a powered condition. He perceived the sound getting louder and saw a blue and white helicopter emerge from the clouds,” the report said.

“He judged it to be moving fast, traveling on a forward and descending trajectory. It started to roll to the left such that he caught a glimpse of its belly. He observed it for seconds 1 to 2 seconds before it impacted terrain about 50 feet below his position.”

A final report with further details about the crash could take over a year to be released.

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Jay-Z Talks About his Last Conversation With Kobe Bryant before the NBA star’s death [Video]

Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter opened up about his final conversation with Kobe Bryant just weeks before the NBA legend’s untimely death.

While speaking at Columbia University on Tuesday, Carter revealed that he and Bryant celebrated New Year’s at the hip-hop mogul’s home.

“Kobe was a guy that looked up to me and we’ve hung out multiple times,” he said. “He was last at my house on New Year’s, and he was just in the greatest space that I’ve seen him in. One of the last things he said to me was, ‘You’ve got to see Gianna play basketball.’ And that was one of the most hurtful things because he was so proud.”

Weeks later, the 41-year-old NBA superstar and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among those killed in a tragic helicopter crash in Los Angeles on Jan. 26.

“Just a great human being and was in a great space in his life.” pic.twitter.com/QJ1PTqkPmq

— Roc Nation Sports (@RocNationSports) February 5, 2020

In addition to addressing his last conversation with Bryant, Carter also addressed public speculation about why he and his wife, Beyoncé, remained seated while Demi Lovato sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday. Rather than sitting in protest, the business tycoon revealed that they were marveling at Lovato’s performance.

We were in “artist mode” and focused on elements like, “Did [the] mic start? Was it too low?,” he explained. He added that Beyoncé was explaining to him how Lovato was likely feeling at that moment. “The whole time we’re sitting there and we’re talking about the performance. And then right after that, Demi comes out, and we’re talking about how beautiful she looked and how she sound[ed], and what she’s going through in her life for her to be on the stage, and we’re so proud of her.”

The rapper-turned-billionaire went on to point out the diverse array of talent that he helped assemble for the Super Bowl halftime show, which included Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. “We were making the biggest, loudest protest of all. Given the context, I didn’t have to make a silent protest,” he said. Carter became a co-producer of the halftime show after his company, Roc Nation, partnered with the NFL last year.

Carter’s comments came during the launch of his new lecture series at Columbia University. The Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter Lecture Series was formed under the IVY league school’s African American and African Diaspora Studies Department (AAADS) to honor the Brooklyn-born rapper, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

“The Carter Lecture Series, the first named and endowed program in our Department, sits at the heart of our mission to create and sustain an intellectual community bridging scholarship, teaching, and public life,” said Farah Jasmine Griffin, chair of AAADS Department, in a statement. “The annual series will bring to our campus, our neighboring community and the City of New York the most innovative thinkers, activists and artists who are making outstanding contributions to our understanding of, and appreciation for, the thought, arts and social movements of the black diaspora.”

She added, “This unique lecture series, named for one of our most important and influential cultural figures, helps to establish the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department at Columbia as a major intellectual and cultural center.”

 

Columbia launched the Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter Lecture Series tonight with an unforgettable first conversation between @s_c_ and @jelani9 at #TheForum. @teamroc @rocnation @IRAASColumbiaU https://t.co/z9UDqajdVg pic.twitter.com/u7u2ET7aYz

— Columbia University (@Columbia) February 5, 2020

 

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Gayle King Did What Every Good Journalist Is Supposed To Do: Her Job

Gayle King is a journalist. This is not a defense; just a statement of fact.

If you are a journalist, and you aren’t prepared for people to hate you, even violently so, because of the questions you dare to ask, you are in the wrong profession. You also must be prepared for the organization that employs you (in King’s case, CBS), to market the questions you ask and responses they elicit with the goal of drawing maximum attention to the content it is dedicated to monetizing via the generation of ratings (or readership or web traffic) and ad revenue. Journalists rarely have input, less rarely have control, and almost never have final say, over where, when and how this is done, and in what context.

This life is not for those who need to be liked or popular. The best of my profession know that we have to be willing to put it on the line—and know that we will often pay a price (in some cases, our lives, and more often, our livelihoods) for doing so. We know that we will be targets of criticism and blame especially when we are wrong, but also, even when we are not.

 

This is what we sign up for when we accept work as a journalist. This is the job. Here are a few things that are not:

Avoiding the question out of “respect”

If you are a serious journalist, you cannot avoid the painful questions and topics. King’s interview with Lisa Leslie was about Kobe Bryant’s life and legacy; a good journalist knows you can’t just leave out the parts we don’t like. The charges he faced and the settlement are facts of his life, and far from minor ones. King was practicing journalism, not hosting a memoriam, tribute or eulogy for Bryant.

It is not the job of a journalist to make people (including family, friends and fans) feel good or avoid hurting their feelings.We cannot do our jobs if we only ask polite questions, and report only uplifting and flattering stories, with a nice bow on top. It is not our job to make people (including ourselves) look good.

It is our job to tell stories as accurately and thoroughly as possible, including the painful, ugly, upsetting, controversial, disputed and sad parts. That means asking the questions that most people can’t or won’t ask, may not want to answer or even want to think about. Once a journalist can no longer do this, it’s time to get out of the game.

Waiting for the “right time” to ask the question

There is virtually no such thing as “too soon” for a journalist to ask a question. (An exception: Allowing the interview subject to get comfortable with easier, lighter questions before introducing the difficult ones.) There is such a thing as too late, though—delayed questions too often never get asked, and therefore never get answered. It is not the job of journalist to leave the hard questions for  somebody else to ask at the “right time.”

Accepting the initial response to the question and moving on

Good journalists are trained to press beyond the initial response to a question, especially with respect to difficult and complex topics. This is another reason not to wait too long to ask the difficult questions; you need to leave time for follow-up questions. A journalist who accepts the first answer to every question is either inexperienced, afraid or lazy.

Somebody’s got to do it

With rare exception, journalists are either taken for granted, or hated. Very few people appreciate or even recognize good journalism, but almost everyone feels qualified to call out and judge a piece of journalism as “bad,” including those with hardly a layperson’s understanding of the profession.

My intention here is not to defend King or her career. She’s a grown woman; she can take care of herself. As I said, the heat she is taking—including veiled and not-so-veiled threats—is an occupational hazard of our profession. My purpose here is bringing light to the realities—and the real risks (as the reaction to King’s reporting illustrates)—of choosing journalism as a profession.

It is far easier and safer to be a journalism critic than it is to be a journalist. This is exactly why most people will not do this work, and precious few will dedicate their lives to it. However, somebody must. I thank God for those who will.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is a senior vice president and executive editor at Black Enterprise, with nearly four decades of experience as an award-winning journalist and editor, including 13 years as editor-in-chief of Black Enterprise magazine. He’s also taught journalism as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Rutgers University, and served for five years as an instructor for the New York Association of Black Journalists High School Journalism Workshop at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus.

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Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal Takes 50 Students on Howard University Tour

As part of his efforts to give back to the community, Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal took some neighborhood children on a tour of popular HBCU Howard University, according to NBA.com.

The Washington Wizards shooting guard took students from Ron Brown College Preparatory High School (RBHS) to a visit on the campus of Howard University. Beal sponsored the bus and made arrangements for a tour for 50 students.

“Their lives are moving fast, and before you know it, college is here,” Beal told NBA.com. “We just want to get them ready and prepared for the next level.”

This was the fourth time Beal has sponsored a bus for a college tour, yet, the first one he was able to attend. Last November, he provided transportation for students on separate visits to Lincoln University, Morgan State University, and Salisbury University.

He had previously won the 2018-19 NBA Cares Community Assist Award and was awarded $25,000 for his generosity and contributions to the community. A small portion of the award went toward the sponsorship of the tour bus.

Bradley Beal hosts 50 students on Howard University tour (Image: Washington Wizards)

The Washington Wizards tweeted out the announcement, “Today, Bradley Beal continued his partnership with@RBHSMonarchs by attending his first and hosting his fourth college tour of the year. #WizCares |@RealDealBeal23“

The students were able to visit the office of the President of Howard University, Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick. Frederick answered questions from the students for 30 minutes. Beal stated he also got the chance to have a conversation with Frederick.

“Dr. Frederick is unbelievable,” Beal said after the meeting. “Just to see what he’s accomplished and to see what his vision is. To see his passion for the young kids and the youth at his young age is motivational. It inspired me to have a relationship with him moving forward.” 

“I always tell kids that I have four brothers,” Beal said. “The thing that I have against them is that I’m in the NBA, but they all have degrees and I don’t. That’s something that challenges me in a way. I want to get my degree and that’s something I take pride in, especially being a man of color.” 

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