Vanessa Bryant Urges Congress to Pass New Helicopter Safety Legislation

Christopher Luu
·2 min read

Months after the deaths of her husband, Kobe Bryant, and daughter, Gianna Bryant, Vanessa Bryant is pushing Congress to pass new safety legislation that could prevent what happened to her family from occurring again. Called the Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act, Democratic lawmakers introduced the proposal today, CNN reports. The outlet reports that if passed, the new law would "require all helicopters certified to carry six or more people to be equipped with a Terrain Awareness and Warning System, a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder."

"I strongly urge that the United States Congress pass a federal law that would improve the safety of helicopters operating in this country," Bryant said in a statement. "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."

Kevork Djansezian / Stringer

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Vanessa's statement added that when passengers board aircraft, there is a certain amount of trust involved that everyone operating the planes are trained and prepared for any situation. That's not the case, she explained, adding that the new measures could save lives.

"I believe that these safety measures will save many lives," she continued. "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."

CNN noted that Rep. Brad Sherman of California introduced similar legislation back in January, shortly after the crash. Today's bill is an updated version of that one, with the name change and more support from lawmakers.

"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," Vanessa said.