(CNN) – Hours before his fatal helicopter accident, Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna communed before a morning religious service.
Minutes before the accident, his pilot was trying to obtain a special permit to fly in foggy conditions.
Seconds before the accident that killed the nine people on board, the pilot told the air traffic control that he was trying to avoid a cloud cover. It was the last time someone on the ground knew about the helicopter.
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While federal investigators try to determine what caused the accident, excerpts from air traffic control recordings help build a timeline of what happened in the final moments of the flight.
9:06 am PT Sunday
The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter takes off from Orange County, California, according to the FlightRadar24.com flight tracking site.
The helicopter was heading from the southern Los Angeles area to the northern suburbs of Los Angeles.
Bryant was to train a youth basketball team, the Lady Mambas, at their 12 pm game in Thousand Oaks, California. Gianna, 13, was on that team. Two other girls in the helicopter, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, were also on the team.
Around 9:21 am PT
The helicopter starts circling over Glendale, California, near the city of Burbank.
“2EX helicopter, wait outside Burbank Class C airspace. I have a plane circling, ”says an air traffic controller.
“2EX, holding on,” replies the pilot.
The air traffic control audio indicates that the pilot, Ara Zobayan, had requested SVFR authorization or special authorization of visual flight rules.
The SVFR authorization allows a pilot to fly in worse weather conditions than those allowed for regular visual flight rules. On Sunday morning, the Los Angeles Police Department had grounded their helicopters due to low visibility due to fog.
Pilots sometimes request mid-flight SVFR authorization if weather conditions suddenly change. Those with permission granted generally maintain closer contact with air traffic control.
READ: This is what we know about the Sikorsky S-76B, the Kobe Bryant crash helicopter
Around 9:24 am PT
An air traffic controller says “it’s going to be a little” before the pilot can continue.
“Ok, we’ll keep holding on,” Zobayan replies.
A member of the National Transportation Safety Board said later that there was a delay due to traffic.
Around 9:33 am PT
The helicopter is heading north. Air traffic control tells the pilot to “follow Highway 5” and maintain SVFR conditions.
The pilot confirms that he heard the instructions: “Keep VFR special at 2500 or less, I-5 northbound.”
Later, the Burbank air traffic controller tells the pilot to switch to Van Nuys air traffic control.
The pilot contacts the Van Nuys tower: “Van Nuys, 2EX Helicopter with you for the special VFR transition. We are currently in 1400. ”
The driver tells the pilot: “Calm wind, visibility 2 1/2, roof 1100 cloudy, altimeters Van Nuys 30.16. Cleared in Van Nuys Class D northeast of Van Nuys. ”
At one point, the pilot requested the follow-up of the flight, which is radar assistance for a flight that helps the pilot avoid traffic, said Jennifer Homendy, a member of NTSB.
But air traffic control said the helicopter was flying too low to provide flight assistance, Homendy said.
The pilot told the air traffic control that he was going to climb higher to avoid a cloud cover. It was his last broadcast.
Around 9:42 am PT
An air traffic controller tries to contact the pilot, but gets no response.
“72EX, you are following a 1200 code. So you are requesting the flight tracking?”, The controller asks.
“Say intentions,” adds the controller. “You are still at a level too low to continue the flight at this time.”
9:45 am PT
The helicopter is lost on the radar, the NTSB said.
9:47 am PT
The first 911 call about the accident arrives, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
12 pm PT
The Lady Mambas basketball game was scheduled to begin at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.
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