Kobe Bryant's helicopter was flying in weather so foggy that the Los Angeles Police Department had grounded its helicopters because of the dangerous conditions.
Thousands of fans, many wearing Bryant jerseys and chanting his name, gathered outside the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, home of the Lakers and site of Sunday's Grammy Awards, where Bryant was honoured.
While investigators have yet to establish the cause of the wreck, the tragedy immediately raised questions of whether the pilot, whose name has not been released, should have been allowed to fly in such weather. At the time, the Los Angeles Police Department and the county sheriff's department had grounded their own helicopters.
Three bodies were recovered Sunday afternoon before darkness forced the search to be suspended, the coroner's office said.The Sikorsky S-76 went down in Calabasas, about 48 kilometres northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Authorities did not say where Bryant was going, but the helicopter appeared headed in the direction of his youth sports academy in nearby Thousand Oaks, which was holding a basketball tournament Sunday in which Bryant's daughter, known as Gigi, was competing.
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