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The air traffic controller, in turn, dismissed the request, saying, “I’m going to lose radar and comms probably pretty shortly.”
“This denial was improper because radar contact had not been lost and services were being denied based on the possibility that they might be lost at some point in the future,” the lawsuit read, as cited by the broadcaster.
The lawsuit also alleged that the first air traffic controller who spoke to Zobayan was soon replaced by another controller.
The lawsuit claims that the controllers made numerous fatal mistakes.
On Jan. 26, the helicopter with Bryant, his daughter Gianna Maria-Onore and seven others crashed in the U.S. city of Calabasas, killing all passengers aboard the aircraft.
In February, attorneys representing Kobe’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, filed a lawsuit against Island Express Helicopters and Island Express Holding Corp.