By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- An NBC4/Telemundo 52 news helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, killing reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw.
- At least one person on the ground was also killed, and the Los Angeles Fire Department said the toll could rise as crews sift through wreckage.
- The crash occurred as the crew covered an earlier collision between an SUV and a city bus that killed at least two people and injured six others.
- Two people were hospitalized following the helicopter crash; their conditions were not immediately released.
- The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are sending investigators to determine the cause of the crash.
LOS ANGELES — A news helicopter crashed and burst into flames in a Los Angeles neighborhood Tuesday, killing the reporter and pilot aboard along with at least one person on the ground, as the crew covered an earlier fatal collision between an SUV and a city bus.
The helicopter, operated by Angel City Air for NBC4 and Telemundo 52, went down near a storage facility in the Chatsworth neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams confirmed during a live broadcast that two people aboard the aircraft had been killed; a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson said at least one person on the ground also died. “We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, process it,” Williams said before the network’s coverage cut off.
“From the helicopter itself, it’s pretty well destroyed,” said Capt. Branden Silverman, an LAFD spokesperson. “So we are going to have to go through the rubble and see how many victims there were on board, as well as identify the helicopter; we couldn’t even see a tail.” At least four cars and two storage containers on the ground also burned before the fire was extinguished. Two people were taken to a hospital, according to fire Battalion Chief Rico A. Gross; their conditions were not immediately released.
NBC4’s website identified those killed aboard the helicopter as reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw, both Angel City Air employees. Moreno, a Chapman University graduate, joined the company in 2010 and had flown with Marciniw since 2023. Marciniw was a Southern California native and 1974 graduate of Burbank High School.
The crew had been covering a collision earlier Tuesday in which an SUV struck the side of a city bus, killing at least two people and injuring six others. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the combined toll from both incidents was five people. “Losing five Angelenos is very painful,” Bass said. “And I know this community of Chatsworth, hit hard, will be grieving for some time.” NBC4 and Telemundo 52 said in a statement they are “deeply saddened” and extended condolences to the families and colleagues of those killed. Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked responding emergency crews and said his thoughts were with the victims and their families.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration said investigators were expected to arrive Wednesday to begin examining the cause of the helicopter crash. According to a review of federal accident records and news accounts, at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters have occurred in the U.S. since 2000, killing 16 people, including a 2023 crash in New Jersey that killed a pilot and photographer for a Philadelphia station, and a 2022 crash near Charlotte, North Carolina, that killed a pilot and meteorologist during a training flight.