The pilot flying Kobe Bryant and seven others to a youth basketball tournament did not have alcohol or drugs in his system, and all nine suffered immediately fatal injuries when their helicopter slammed into a hillside outside Los Angeles in January, according to autopsies released Friday.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office reports provide a clinical but unvarnished and graphic look at just how brutal the crash was, describing broken bones, dismembered body parts and a stench of fuel on what remained of clothing that burned.
One of the most popular sports figures in Los Angeles and a worldwide celebrity, Bryant was broken beyond recognition when his body was found in the dirt outside the wreckage of the chopper.