Kobe Bryant, other victims, identified in crash

The bodies of basketball star Kobe Bryant and three other people killed when their helicopter crashed in California on Sunday have been identified, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Tuesday.

Fingerprints were used to confirm the identity of Bryant, 41, along with John Altobelli, 56; Sarah Chester, 45, and the pilot, 50-year-old Ara Zobayan.

While officials have not yet formally identified five other victims, relatives and acquaintances have named them as Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna, Chester's 13-year-old daughter Payton, Altobelli's wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, and Christina Mauser, a girls' basketball coach at a Southern California elementary school.

The last of the bodies and the wreckage were recovered from the Calabasas hillside on Tuesday, authorities said.

Determining what caused the crash will take months, federal investigators said, although fog has been identified as a contributing factor.

The helicopter descended for about a minute before crashing and was traveling at more than 2,000 feet a minute when it hit the ground, said Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board.

"We know that this was a high-energy impact crash," she said, although it appeared the aircraft was in one piece when it struck the ground.

However, it was too soon to determine whether the pilot was still in control of the helicopter during the descent, she said.