Could GPS Spoofing have been used to bring down Kobe Bryant's helicopter?
Since we know that the helicopter was flying in the fog/clouds with virtual zero visibility during the last couple minutes of the flight, would the pilot have relied on any GPS/GNSS navigation system to make any flight decisions, such as the bank to the left while descending and accelerating rapidly?? (see flight path recreation in google earth here https://youtu.be/XSHpbGhy3Ko). If the answer is YES, then it would have been a simple exercise to use readily available GPS/GNSS spoofing technology to hack the GPS navigation system. This video embedded illustrates how it was done to bring down an unmanned helicopter relying on GPS navigation signals. In the second demonstration near the end, they tricked the Helicopter's navigation system into thinking that it was climbing, which caused it to respond by descending rapidly (!).
Demonstration of a Remote Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Hijacking via GPS Spoofing
(embedded video) https://youtu.be/Opo9ip0Ica0
Did the 1991 Sikorsky S76B helicopter (tail number N72EX) have a GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM?
We don't know. Even though we have learned that the Helicopter did not have an enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) (which depends on GPS), it is still possible that a GPS was part of the Helicopter's avionics or that the pilot had a portable hand held GPS navigation device.
Interestingly, I found an older 1989 Sikorsky S76B for sale online that comes with a flight recorder and an enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), so it seems unusual to me that a newer model once used to fly the Governor of Illinois did not have these features installed.
1989 Sikorsky S76B for Sale
https://www.globalair.com/aircraft-for-sale/ListingDetail/Sikorsky-S76B?AdId=88306
AUTOPILOT: Honeywell SPZ-7000 system with dual FZ-700 Autopilot Computers
COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER: Fairchild A100 Cockpit Voice Recorder (30 Minutes)
COMMUNICATIONS: Dual Collins VHF-22A VHF Radios
DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT: Dual Collins DME-42 DME Transceivers
EMERGENCY LOCATOR TRANSMITTER: Artex ME406HM ELT
ENHANCED GROUND PROXIMITY WARNING SYSTEM: Honeywell Mark XXI EGPWS
FLIGHT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: Universal UNS-1Fw
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM: Bendix King KLN-90B GPS Receiver
MULTI-FUNCTION DISPLAY: Garmin GMX-200 Moving Map
NAVIGATION: Dual Collins VIR-32 VHF Navigation System
GPS/GNSS Intentional Interference and Spoofing
https://www.gps.gov/multimedia/presentations/2016/04/APEC/alexander-2.pdf
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) used in Helicopter Navigation
https://helicoptermaintenancemagazine.com/article/global-positioning-system-gps
[NOTE: I am not suggesting that this is what happened, but in my efforts to rule out the possibility, I was shocked at how easily it could be done and thought I should share it]