In his last radio message, the pilot of the helicopter that crashed Sunday in California, killing Kobe Bryant and eight others, said he was climbing to avoid clouds, investigators said Monday.

Pilot Ara Zobayan had asked for and received special clearance to fly in heavy fog before the Sikorsky S-76B went down Sunday around 10 a.m. in the hills above Calabasas, sparking a brush fire.

He’d contacted air traffic controllers for radar guidance called “flight following,” but was told he was flying too low to be in radar range, National Transportation Safety Board Member Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference.

About four minutes later, in his final radio message, the pilot told air traffic controllers that he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer, Homendy said.

“When [Air Traffic Control] asked what the pilot planned to do, there was no reply,” she said.

Radar data indicates the aircraft climbed to 2,300 feet and then began a left descending turn, she said. The last radar contact was around 9:45 a.m., near the site of the crash.

The chopper didn’t have a black box, not was it required to, said Homendy.

Investigators have recovered an iPad they believe the pilot had been using for flight tracking and weather briefings, she added.

Coroner’s officials worked to recover victim’s remains Monday from the wreckage site, which spanned the size of a football field. NTSB went there to collect evidence.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Aviation experts say the pilot may have been disoriented by fog in the area.

The weather was so foggy the Los Angeles Police Department and LA county sheriff’s department had grounded their own choppers.

In addition to Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, the victims included college baseball coach John Altobelli, his daughter Alyssa Altobelli and wife, Keri Altobelli; girls’ basketball coach Christina Mauser; mom Sarah Chester and her 13-year-old daughter, Payton Chester; and Zobayan.