LOS ANGELES, Sept 16 – A helicopter operated for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 crashed Tuesday in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles while news crews were covering an earlier collision involving an SUV and a city bus, killing at least three people and setting several vehicles and storage containers on fire.
The helicopter went down near a large storage facility in the San Fernando Valley as reporters were covering the bus crash. Two people aboard the helicopter were killed, while the Los Angeles Fire Department said at least one additional person died on the ground.
The crash brought the station’s live coverage to an abrupt and emotional halt. Colleen Williams, an NBC4 Los Angeles anchor, confirmed during the broadcast that two people had been killed in the helicopter crash. Speaking as the seriousness of the incident became clear, Williams paused the coverage and told viewers that the newsroom needed a moment to process what had happened.
The helicopter was operated by Angel City Air and was being used by NBC4 and Telemundo 52 for aerial news coverage in Southern California. Firefighters responding to the scene initially faced difficulty determining how many people had been aboard because the aircraft was heavily destroyed in the crash.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Branden Silverman said the helicopter was so badly damaged that crews could not immediately identify its tail. Firefighters therefore had to work through the wreckage to determine the number of victims and establish the aircraft’s identity.
The helicopter’s impact also caused a fire on the ground. Officials said at least four cars and two storage containers caught fire after the aircraft came down. Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze relatively quickly, allowing emergency crews to concentrate on the wreckage and people affected by the crash.
Two people were transported to a hospital following the incident, according to Rico A. Gross, a battalion chief with the Los Angeles Fire Department. Their conditions were not immediately available.
The helicopter crash occurred as news organizations were already reporting from the area following another serious accident earlier Tuesday. An SUV had collided with the middle section of a Los Angeles city bus, killing at least two people and injuring six others.
Images from the scene showed the force of the initial collision, with a substantial portion of the SUV embedded in the side of the bus. The accident had drawn news crews to Chatsworth, where the helicopter was also being used to provide aerial coverage.
NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik was near the bus collision when he noticed black smoke and moved toward the helicopter crash site. Police quickly established a large perimeter around the area, with dozens of patrol vehicles surrounding the scene as ambulances and emergency personnel arrived.
The deaths aboard the helicopter were identified by NBC4 and the station’s website as Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. Both worked for Angel City Air, the company that operated the aircraft.
Moreno was a familiar presence to Southern California television viewers through her aerial reporting work for NBC4 and Telemundo 52. She was born in Orange County and joined Angel City Air’s helicopter team in 2010, the same year she graduated from Chapman University with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science.
Before joining the helicopter operation, Moreno worked with several Southern California news organizations. According to NBC4’s account of her career, she began flying with Marciniw in 2023, pairing her reporting experience with his long career as a pilot.
Marciniw was also a longtime Southern California resident. He grew up in the region and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974. His career included years of flying in the area, eventually leading to his work with Angel City Air.
The deaths have affected both the television stations and the wider Los Angeles journalism community, where helicopter crews play a prominent role in covering traffic accidents, wildfires, police activity and other breaking events.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 Los Angeles issued a joint statement expressing their sorrow over the crash and offering condolences to the relatives, friends and colleagues of everyone who died.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also addressed the deaths, saying the loss of five Angelenos was deeply painful and that the Chatsworth community, which had already been shaken by the day’s events, would likely mourn for some time.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked emergency personnel responding to both crashes. In a post on X, Newsom expressed sympathy for the victims and their families while recognizing the crews working at the scene.
The helicopter crash is now expected to become the subject of a federal investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration said investigators would arrive Wednesday to begin examining the wreckage and determining what caused the aircraft to go down.
Investigators will examine the helicopter, the circumstances surrounding its flight, available maintenance and operational records, and other evidence that could help establish what happened before the crash. Determining the cause of an aviation accident can take considerable time, particularly when an aircraft is severely damaged by fire and impact.
News helicopters have been involved in a number of fatal aviation accidents in the United States over the past several decades. A review of federal accident records and news reports found at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the country since 2000, resulting in 16 deaths.
Among the more recent incidents was a 2023 helicopter crash in a New Jersey forest that killed a pilot and photographer aboard an aircraft used by Philadelphia television station WPVI. In 2022, a helicopter training flight associated with Charlotte, North Carolina, station WBTV crashed beside an interstate, killing the pilot and a meteorologist.
The Chatsworth crash occurred during what had initially been a routine assignment to cover a major traffic collision. Instead, the news crews at the scene found themselves responding to another deadly emergency, this time involving the aircraft being used to report the story.
As investigators begin examining the wreckage and emergency crews complete their work at the crash site, the focus will turn toward determining why the helicopter went down and what circumstances preceded the fatal accident. For the families of Moreno, Marciniw and the other victim, the investigation comes as the Los Angeles community mourns those killed during a day marked by two separate crashes in the same neighborhood.