Mothers, fathers and kids lost their lives

Remembering the nine



DISTRAUGHT— A mourner pays his respects at a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Mamba Sports Academy in Newbury Park. Devoted followers placed flowers and other mementos at the site shortly after hearing the news about the death of the superstar and his teenage daughter. RICHARD GILLARD Acorn Newspapers

DISTRAUGHT— A mourner pays his respects at a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Mamba Sports Academy in Newbury Park. Devoted followers placed flowers and other mementos at the site shortly after hearing the news about the death of the superstar and his teenage daughter. RICHARD GILLARD Acorn Newspapers

Three budding basketball stars, an experienced pilot, a beloved coach. When a private helicopter crashed into a Calabasas hillside on Jan. 26, it marked tragedy, not only for the basketball world, but also heartbreak for five families who lost loved ones in the crash. In addition to Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, the seven other victims have been identified.

John Altobelli, a 56-year-old head baseball coach at Orange Coast College; his wife, Keri; and their 13-year-old daughter, Alyssa, perished in Sunday’s crash, the Costa Mesa community college confirmed this week.

John Altobelli, an OCC coach for 27 years, led the college to numerous championship titles and earned more than 700 wins during his career, according to the college. He was named an American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond National Coach of the Year in 2019.

“John meant so much to not only Orange Coast College, but to baseball,” Athletic Director Jason Kehler said in a statement. “He truly personified what it means to be a baseball coach. The passion that he put into the game, but more importantly his athletes, was second to none—he treated them like family.” The Altobellis’ daughter, Alyssa, played on the same team as Gianna Bryant.

The Altobellis are survived by two other children.

Payton and Sarah Chester

Sarah Chester and her 13-yearold daughter Payton were also victims of the crash, the Chester family confirmed Monday. The mother and daughter were considered the “lights” of their family.

“Payton had a smile and personality that would light any room and a passion for the game of basketball. She found joy on any court and loved all of her teammates and coaches,” a statement from family said. “The love we feel from so many today is a testament to the community she created for us.”

Payton, an eighth-grader, played on the same team as Gianna Bryant at the Thousand Oaks Mamba Academy.

Christina Mauser

Christina Mauser was a basketball coach at an Orange County private school who was handpicked by Kobe Bryant to coach girls’ basketball teams at Mamba Academy, according to her husband, Matt Mauser.

“He didn’t choose Christina for any ordinary reason. She was extraordinary,” Matt Mauser said in an interview with The Today Show. “She was incredible, witty, funny. . . . She was warm, she was incredibly bright.”

The couple met Bryant when they were both working as teachers and basketball coaches at a school Bryant’s children attended. The team called her the “Mother of Defense,” or the MOD, because of her skills as a coach, Matt Mauser said. Christina Mauser leaves behind her husband and three children, ages 3, 9 and 11.

Ara Zobayan

Ara Zobayan, the pilot of the helicopter, was an instructor and charter pilot who received his commercial pilot certificate in 2007, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Peter and Claudia Lowry, founders of Van Nuys Airport’s Group 3 Aviation commercial helicopter service, said Zobayan first came to their company in 1997 to learn how to fly helicopters after he took a sightseeing tour flight at the Grand Canyon.

Their company was not the owner or operator of the flight involved in the accident.

“We are heartbroken at the loss of our friend and pilot Ara Zobayan,” the Lowrys wrote on Facebook. “Ara worked hard in other businesses to save enough money to pay for training. Flying was his life’s passion.”