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LOS ANGELES —
\nAra Zobayan\u2019s passion for helicopters began as a passenger, a tourist floating over the vast Grand Canyon.<\/p>\n
\nThe freedom the man who would become Kobe Bryant’s pilot felt was transformational, inspiring Zobayan to scrimp and save to take lessons and learn to pilot the aircraft himself.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt tapped into what he felt he was here on Earth to do: to fly and to teach, and to teach people to have this feeling that he had,\u201d said an emotional Darren Kemp, a student pilot of Zobayan who became a close friend.<\/p>\n
\nZobayan\u2019s journey from pupil to pilot to the stars ended Sunday when the Sikorsky aircraft he was flying crashed into a hillside outside Los Angeles, killing him Bryant and the other seven aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident, including any role heavy fog played. <\/p>\n
\nThe 50-year-old Zobayan was the chief pilot for charter service Island Express and had more than 8,200 hours of flight time. He was certified to fly using only instruments \u2014 a more difficult rating to attain that allows pilots to fly at night and through clouds. <\/p>\n
\nBut on the day of the disaster, he was flying under special visual flight rules that require pilots to see where they are going.<\/p>\n
\nHe had completed the same flight the day before \u2014 Orange County to Ventura County \u2014 but Sunday morning brought fog so heavy it grounded helicopters for the Los Angeles Police Department and county sheriff. Zobayan was forced to detour around the San Fernando Valley until he could return to follow U.S. Highway 101 in Calabasas.<\/p>\n
\nIn his final radio transmission to air traffic controllers, Zobayan said he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer before the helicopter plunged more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) into a hillside. <\/p>\n
\nThe death of Bryant shocked the sporting world, but it also shook those who were endeared to Zobayan as much for his skills in the skies as the smile that greeted them each time they would fly.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe was one of their best pilots,\u201d said Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, who flew with him to commute from his home in San Diego to the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles where the Clippers and Lakers play. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cThat\u2019s a guy who you ask for to fly you from city to city,” Leonard said Wednesday. “He\u2019ll be like, \u2018I just dropped Kobe off and he said hello.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
\nZobayan began taking lessons in 1998 at Group 3 Aviation at the Van Nuys airport in Los Angeles, where he would ultimately become a flight instructor. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cAra worked hard in other businesses to save enough money to pay for training,\u201d Group 3 owners Peter and Claudia Lowry said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\nKemp, the former student, said Zobayan inspired him to become a better pilot. His mentor was a stickler for pre-flight checklists, Kemp said, and would make his students sit in the pilot and passenger seats.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe was like, \u2018The way you do it, you have to become it. Go sit in the copter, go touch it, go feel it,\u2019 \u201d Kemp recalled. <\/p>\n
\nIn a video Kemp once shot in the cockpit, a grinning Zobayan is wearing sunglasses and a green headset as he salutes. Kemp sometimes called him \u201cBig Z,\u201d a gentle tease because Zobayan was slim and slight in stature. <\/p>\n
\nThe two bonded like brothers and spoke almost every other day, Kemp said. Over dinners at Captain Jack\u2019s in Huntington Beach near Zobayan\u2019s home, the teacher would call his student \u201ccaptain\u201d as he talked about his girlfriend, chauffeuring Bryant and offering flying tips.<\/p>\n
\nClients said they trusted Zobayan implicitly, bringing their children and grandchildren along on flights, often to Santa Catalina Island \u2014 the main destination for Island Express.<\/p>\n
\nMargaret Bray flew with Zobayan often to and from her restaurant, Maggie\u2019s Blue Rose, on the island off the coast of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe always had this big smile, this infectious smile,\u201d Bray said.<\/p>\n
\nZobayan would often take his lunch breaks at her restaurant and told her about a recent trip to Spain. Bray, who like Zobayan is of Armenian descent, said she\u2019d tease him when she saw him on TV as part of Bryant\u2019s \u201centourage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI think Kobe and him had this friendship,\u201d she said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like pilot and customer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBasketball players weren’t his only celebrity passengers \u2014 Kylie Jenner and actor Lorenzo Lamas mourned his passing.<\/p>\n
\nZobayan and Lamas, a fellow pilot and friend, flew the ex-girlfriend of comedian Andy Dick around in a chopper for an episode of \u201cCelebrity Wife Swap.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nClients sought out Zobayan and would book trips well in advance. <\/p>\n
\nGary Johnson, vice president of airplane parts manufacturer Ace Clearwater Enterprises, said he’d flown with Zobayan about 30 times in roughly eight years, and was looking forward to a trip with him next month.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe was the one I always requested,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe was just sort of those magic souls you run into every now and then.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nJohnson said he’s not sure if he’ll still do the sightseeing trip in February without his favorite pilot. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cI hope he\u2019s up there in the clouds right now,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
\nAssociated Press sports writer Beth Harris contributed to this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n