USA · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
NBC Los Angeles NewsChopper 4 Crashes in Chatsworth, Killing Photojournalist, Pilot, and One on Ground
NBC NewsChopper4 crashed in Chatsworth while covering a fatal bus collision, killing three onboard. Journalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw were among the dead.
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Crash in Chatsworth
An NBC Los Angeles news helicopter crashed Tuesday evening in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley, while covering a fatal Metro bus collision, killing the photojournalist and pilot on board and one person on the ground.
“NewsChopper 4 went down just before 7 o’clock tonight in Chatsworth”
NBC Los Angeles anchor Colleen Williams said, “We knew it was a news chopper, we knew we’d lost contact with our people out there, and we’ve just received the confirmation that, in fact, NewsChopper 4 went down just before 7 o’clock tonight in Chatsworth,” as the station reported the crash just before 7 p.m.
Los Angeles Fire Department officials said the helicopter crash occurred in a parking lot near a self-storage facility in Chatsworth, and CBS News reported the crash happened just before 7 p.m. in the 9100 block of N. Mason Avenue between two commercial buildings at a storage facility.
LAFD Captain Branden Silverman said, “We do have one confirmed patient that seemed to be outside of the helicopter when it crashed,” and CBS News reported two other people were declared dead at the spot of the crash.
The helicopter was identified as NewsChopper4, operated by Angel City Air, and the Federal Aviation Administration said it would be involved while the National Transportation Safety Board would lead the investigation.
Officials, families, and investigators
Mayor Karen Bass called it “a very, very tragic day in Los Angeles,” saying, “We lost five Angelenos today,” while CBS News reported she spoke during a news conference after the helicopter and bus crashes.
CBS Los Angeles assignment editor Mike Rogers said, “That helicopter community is a small group of people, and it's just devastating to know that this has happened to one of those people, to our friends and our colleagues at NBC4,” as the station confirmed the victims aboard the helicopter.
NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 issued a joint statement saying, “We are deeply saddened to share that a helicopter providing aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 was involved in a fatal accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening,” and the BBC reported the station confirmed the crash involved its NewsChopper4 team.
The BBC said fire from the crash spread to four vehicles and two storage containers and that more than 70 firefighters were deployed, while NBC News reported the helicopter was engulfed in flames and the fire spread to nearby parked vehicles.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was “investigating the Sept. 15 crash of a Eurocopter AS 350 B2 helicopter in Chatsworth, California,” and USA Today reported the FAA said the NTSB would lead the investigation.
Bus crash and broader impact
The helicopter crash followed a Metro bus collision earlier in the day, with NBC News reporting the bus crash happened at 5:03 p.m. and that firefighters worked to free trapped people and assess bus passengers.
“The bus crash happened at 5:03 p.m.”
NBC News described the helicopter crash as occurring after the station was covering the bus collision, and NPR reported the SUV collision killed at least two people and injured six others before the helicopter went down near a large storage facility in Chatsworth.
In the helicopter crash itself, NBC News identified the victims aboard as Angel City Air employees Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw, while USA Today reported Moreno and Marciniw were killed and described a third victim as a pedestrian on the ground.
LAFD Captain Branden Silverman told NBC News that the helicopter was “pretty well destroyed,” and the Los Angeles Times reported the chopper crashed in the 9100 block of Mason Avenue around 7 p.m. between two commercial buildings, smashing into truck cargo containers.
With the NTSB expected to arrive on scene Wednesday morning, the investigation was set to determine what happened after the back-to-back crashes, and NBC News said the cause of the helicopter crash was unclear while the FAA and NTSB moved to investigate.