It has been confirmed that Kobe Bryant has tragically died in a helicopter crash last week.

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The NBA star's private helicopter crashed in Calabasas, TMZ sports confirms.

Bryant was a true basketball star.

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His father, Joe Bryant, was also a professional NBA player, and Kobe began playing basketball professionally straight out of high school.

He was a true legend in the sport.

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By his second season, Kobe had been named an All-Star.

When he was just thirty-four years old, Kobe became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points.

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And on February 1st of 2010, it was announced Kobe was the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history.

He was a massive success off the court, too.

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In 2018, Kobe won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball.

Kobe retired after the 2015-16 season.

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But he stayed busy, focusing on many other career pursuits - alongside raising his family.

Kobe shared four daughters with his wife and high school sweetheart, Vanessa.

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Their eldest was Natalia, who's seventeen, followed by Gianna, aged thirteen, then Bianka, aged 3, and Capri aged just 7 months.

He loved being a dad.

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As this photo of the Bryants in full family Halloween costume proves.

Kobe was known for opting to use a helicopter for travel...

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But tragically, yesterday morning, his private helicopter went down and a "fire broke out," TMZ reports.

During a press conference, it was confirmed there were no survivors.

And there were 9 bodies found at the scene.

This is utterly devastating news...

Kobe leaves behind his wife and their daughters - Natalia and Bianka, and their newborn, Capri.

Bryant's daughter, Gianna, was also on board the helicopter at the time of the crash.

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TMZ Sports reports that Gianna, aged 13, has tragically died in the crash. It is thought that the father and daughter were on their way to the Mamba Academy for basketball practice, nearby Thousand Oaks.

Gianna was Kobe's second-eldest daughter.

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She was born on May 1st of 2006, and was set to follow in Kobe's footsteps.

She often accompanied Kobe to basketball games.

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In fact, from childhood, Gianna would participate in the team warm-ups.

Kobe supported his daughter's passion for the sport.

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He would regularly take her along to women's basketball games - and Gianna played for the Mamba Academy ballers, where her father was the coach.

Gianna was reportedly a true talent.

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And many thought she was set for an illustrious basketball career.

Kobe and Gianna were also very close.

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The 2 were often pictured giggling and smiling together, and it was clear that she was the apple of her father's eye.

And, alongside Kobe and Gianna, 7 others have been confirmed to have died.

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All 9 of the passengers on board were confirmed to have died in the tragic crash.

The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.

As of yet, not much is known about the circumstances surrounding this devastating accident.

And many people are asking the same thing...

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What was it that caused their helicopter to malfunction so severely?

A digital map of the helicopter's journey shows the turbulent nature of the flight...

And it can be seen that the helicopter circled over Glendale several times before crashing near Calabasas.

Engine failure has been dubbed as "highly unlikely"...

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And dense fog and bad weather conditions is set to become the key line of investigation.

And now, we can hear the moments of chaos that happened prior to the crash...

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The controllers can be heard mentioning poor visibility around the Burbank and Van Nuys areas, but the pilot talks to controllers normally before communication suddenly goes dead near the crash site at Calabasas.

The pilot was warned that he was flying "too low level for flight"...

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And, seconds later, he drops off the radar entirely.

And that's when the accident occurred.

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And now chilling audio from concerned people that witnessed the crash and reported it to 911 has been released and it's shocking, to say the least. Keep scrolling to see the full video.

People have been left devastated by the audio.

It has brought up some painful memories.

The details that people outlined were disturbing...

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Here are the calls...

The first caller said this:

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"I can hear this plane, I think it was in the clouds. We couldn’t see it and then we just heard a boom and a dead sound. Then I can see the flames."

The second call:

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"We heard it, and I’m now looking at the flames."

And the final one explained what they saw:

"I just heard a helicopter go over me. It went over my head, it is thick in the clouds and then I heard a pop and it immediately stopped." Truly shocking. Our love and prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy. RIP.

Now the investigation into Kobe's death has revealed even more.

The investigation into the crash has been a tough one. As there was no black box on board, and no explanation from the pilot, it has been incredibly difficult to discover what actually happened.

'No sign of engine failure'.

The NTSB says an initial investigation into the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash shows no outward evidence of engine failure. They claim it appears the engine was working at the time of the crash because there was a cut tree branch at the crash scene.

The aircraft had to reach 4000 feet.

However it only managed to reach 2,300 feet before trying to make a left turn. Just seconds later the aircraft began descending (while trying to turn) at an incredibly high rate of speed, dropping at rate of 4,000 feet per minute before crashing into the mountain.

The pilot ascended incredibly quickly.

It's thought he managed to clear one hilltop before crashing into another, although nothing is certain. Seconds before crashing the pilot asked for assistance but was told he was too low.

So far that's all we know.

What happened next, nobody is certain, aside from the fact the helicopter crashed. One witness, a mountain biker, saw the helicopter descend from the clouds before crashing just feet away from him. Such a tragedy. Rest in peace.