Pilot Ara Zobayan has been identified as a pilot of a helicopter, which crashed in California with basketball legend Kobe Bryant on board.

Ara Zobayan, Armenian by origin, was an instrument-rated pilot, Fox 5 reported.

“Friends were mourning him on social media Sunday night, saying that he taught aspiring helicopter pilots to fly and that he was loved within the aviation community,” Fox says.

Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna are among nine victims of the helicopter crash. All nine people on board were killed, the authorities said.