Vanessa Bryant Pushes Lawmakers To Pass Helicopter Safety Bill In Her Husband’s Name

Five months have passed since Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, were killed in a helicopter crash that took the lives of all the people on board. While Bryant, her daughters, and fans continue to mourn, they’re also putting up a fight to ensure that similar tragedies do not claim the lives of other victims.

Vanessa Bryant is urging Congress to pass a new helicopter safety bill that would improve the safety of helicopters in the United States.

“I strongly urge that the United States Congress pass a federal law that would improve the safety of helicopters operating in this country,” Bryant wrote in a statement according to CNN. “I believe there is a chance that Kobe and Gianna would still be alive today if their helicopter had been equipped with the safety equipment required by this pending federal legislation.”

The “Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act” was introduced by Democratic lawmakers and would require all helicopters certified to carry six or more people to be equipped with a Terrain Awareness and Warning System. It would also make a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder essential before taking flight as well.

“I believe that these safety measures will save many lives. As passengers traveling on aircrafts we assume that proper safety measures are in order to prevent accidents from happening before we fly. It’s unfortunate that this is not the case and aircraft companies must do their part to protect lives, “Bryant noted.

Representative Brad Sherman of California first set out to introduce a similar bill in January after Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna and six others were killed in the helicopter crash.

In an interview with CNN, Sherman explained that the bill, which was introduced last Thursday, had been updated after the Bryant family reached out to lawmakers and voiced their support for their effort.

“Having Kobe’s and Gianna’s names associated with this federal law that has the potential to save countless lives would be a fitting tribute to their memory,” Bryant said in her statement. According to CNN, Bryant also suggested that the helicopter industry “consider renaming the black box to Mamba 8 Box in honor of the 3 young Mamba team players, the 2 Mamba coaches and the 3 Mamba parents onboard, equaling 8.”