A news helicopter covering a deadly traffic collision in Los Angeles crashed in the Chatsworth area on Tuesday evening, killing two people aboard the aircraft and a person on the ground.
The helicopter was providing aerial coverage of an earlier collision involving a Metro bus when it went down shortly before 7pm. The two people aboard were identified as journalist and photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw, both employees of helicopter operator Angel City Air. A third person on the ground also died, while two others were taken to hospital.
Helicopter Crashed During News Coverage
The aircraft was operating as NewsChopper 4 and was being used to provide aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52.
The helicopter had been covering a serious collision involving a Metro bus and another vehicle in Chatsworth, a community in the San Fernando Valley. That earlier crash had already left at least two people dead and several others injured.
While news crews were covering the scene, the helicopter went down in the same area. The aircraft was badly damaged and caught fire after the crash.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said more than 70 firefighters responded to the scene. Crews quickly brought the fire under control, while emergency personnel worked around the damaged aircraft and nearby property. Two people were taken to hospital following the helicopter crash.
The cause of the helicopter crash was not immediately known. Authorities began investigating what happened before the aircraft lost contact.
Journalist and Pilot Among Those Killed
NBC News identified Moreno and Marciniw as the two people aboard the helicopter who died.
Moreno was a journalist and photojournalist who worked with NBC4 and Telemundo 52. She had worked in aerial news coverage for years and was familiar to viewers who followed the stations' breaking news reports from above Los Angeles.
Marciniw was the helicopter pilot. Moreno and Marciniw had regularly worked together on aerial assignments.
The third person killed in the helicopter crash was on the ground. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office later identified that victim as 29 year old Edy Gutierrez Mejia.
The deaths meant that a day that had already begun with a fatal traffic collision in Chatsworth became a larger tragedy involving both the people being covered by the news media and members of the media covering the incident.
NBC4 Announces Its Own Tragedy on Air
The crash created an extraordinary situation for NBC4, whose journalists were reporting from the area while colleagues were still trying to establish what had happened to the station's helicopter crew.
NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams eventually announced the crash during a live broadcast after the station lost contact with the aircraft.
The announcement was made with visible emotion as the station confirmed that NewsChopper 4 had gone down shortly before 7pm.
The station's journalists had been covering the earlier bus collision when they learned that their own colleagues were involved in another serious incident nearby. Several news helicopters had been in the area covering the original crash.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 later issued a joint statement expressing sorrow over the deaths and offering condolences to the victims' families, friends and colleagues.
For the station's newsroom, the incident turned an ordinary breaking news assignment into a report about the loss of its own staff members.
Firefighters Respond to Burning Aircraft
The helicopter crashed in a parking area near commercial and storage facilities in Chatsworth. The impact caused a fire that spread to nearby vehicles and storage containers before firefighters brought it under control.
Witnesses described seeing smoke and flames after the aircraft went down. Emergency crews quickly surrounded the area as firefighters dealt with the burning wreckage and paramedics treated those affected.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said two people were transported to hospital. Their conditions were not immediately released in the initial reports.
The aircraft itself sustained extensive damage in the crash.
Investigators now face the task of determining what caused the helicopter to go down while it was carrying out a news assignment. Officials had not immediately announced a cause, and authorities cautioned against drawing conclusions before the investigation was completed.
Earlier Metro Bus Collision Left Two Dead
The helicopter had been covering a separate crash involving a Metro bus earlier Tuesday.
The first collision occurred in Chatsworth and involved an SUV and a city bus. At least two people died in that crash, while six others were injured. The severity of the collision drew emergency responders and several news crews to the area.
NewsChopper 4 had launched from a nearby airport at about 5:20pm, according to NBC Los Angeles. Its signal was later lost shortly before 7pm while the crew was covering the traffic incident from the air.
That timing placed the helicopter crash within the same breaking news operation that had brought the aircraft over Chatsworth in the first place.
The sequence of events is now part of the investigation as authorities work to reconstruct the aircraft's final minutes.
Investigation Into Crash Underway
The cause of the helicopter crash had not been established in the initial reports.
Officials will need to examine the aircraft, the crash site and available records to determine what happened before the helicopter descended. Investigators are also expected to examine information relating to the aircraft's operation and the conditions at the time of the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board was expected to begin its investigation at the scene, according to local reporting.
The Federal Aviation Administration is also involved in the broader investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Until investigators establish the cause, there is no confirmed explanation for why the aircraft went down.
Angel City Air, the company operating the helicopter, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
California Governor Gavin Newsom expressed condolences to the victims' families and the NBC4 community following the crash.
The deaths of Moreno and Marciniw have also drawn attention within the Southern California journalism community, where news helicopter crews have long played a prominent role in covering fires, police pursuits, major traffic incidents and other breaking events.
A News Assignment Turned Into a Fatal Crash
Moreno and Marciniw had gone into the air to help viewers understand a developing traffic story. Instead, their own aircraft became the centre of another emergency.
The crash killed three people, injured two others and left investigators working to determine how the helicopter came down.
For NBC4 and Telemundo 52, the incident also brought the difficult task of reporting on the deaths of their own colleagues while continuing to cover the wider events in Chatsworth.
The investigation will now focus on the aircraft's final moments, the circumstances surrounding the loss of contact and the evidence at the crash site.
As authorities work to establish the cause, the immediate facts remain clear. A helicopter carrying out news coverage in Chatsworth crashed shortly before 7pm, killing journalist Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw and a person on the ground. The investigation must now establish why the aircraft fell and whether any mechanical, operational or environmental factor contributed to the crash.
What further information should investigators clarify about the helicopter's final moments and the cause of the crash?