LOS ANGELES — A news helicopter used by NBC and Telemundo crashed in a Los Angeles neighborhood on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing at least three people while reporters were covering the nearby crash of an SUV and a city bus, officials and the NBC outlet said.
Colleen Williams, an NBC4 Los Angeles anchor, confirmed during live broadcasts that the station's chopper went down just before 7 p.m. and two people were killed.
“We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, process it,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion. Moments later the coverage abruptly cut off.
Williams and the station’s website later identified them as Eliana Moreno, a familiar voice for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 during the station’s aerial coverage, and pilot George Marciniw. Both were Angel City Air employees.
Fire officials, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other politicians spoke during a news conference Tuesday night but did not identify any victims. They later embraced a crying NBC reporter who also was hugged by fellow journalists.
The helicopter crashed near a large storage facility in the neighborhood of Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley, as news crews were covering the bus crash that left at least two people dead and six others injured, according the Los Angeles Fire Department.
“Losing five Angelenos is very painful,” Bass said. “And I know this community of Chatsworth hit hard, will be grieving for some time.”
At least one person killed in the helicopter crash was outside in the parking lot next to a commercial building, said Capt. Branden Silverman, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
“From the helicopter itself, it’s pretty well destroyed,” Silverman said. “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.”
Two people were transported to a hospital, said Rico A. Gross, a fire department battalion chief. Their conditions were not immediately released.
NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik was at the bus scene and saw black smoke and rushed to the helicopter crash site. One of those transported to the hospital seemed to be in shock after witnessing the crash, Kovacik said.
At least four cars and two storage containers on the ground burned after the helicopter caught fire, which was quickly put out, according to officials. More than 70 firefighters responded to the helicopter crash, according to the fire department. Dozens of police cars surrounded the scene at the storage facility as ambulances entered.
About two hours before the crash, an SUV slammed into the middle of a city bus, killing at least two people and injuring six others. Photos and videos online showed half the SUV lodged into the side of an MTA bus.
Several TV news helicopters were reporting on the bush crash before the helicopter went down a short distance from the bus collision, according to NBC4, which said NewsChopper4 was operated by Angel City Air and used by NBCLA and Telemundo 52.
Moreno, from Orange County, was a 1974 graduate of Burbank High School and joined the Angel City Air helicopter team in 2010 after earning a broadcast journalism and political science degree from Chapman University. She reported for several Southern California media outlets and began flying with Marciniw in 2023, the NBC4 website said.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 Los Angeles said in a statement they “are deeply saddened” to learn of the helicopter crash and extended “heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked the emergency crews responding to both crashes and said in a post on X that “our hearts are with the victims and families.”
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration said personnel will arrive Wednesday to begin an investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash.
There have been at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the U.S. since 2000, killing 16 people, according to a review of federal accident records and news accounts.
They include a 2023 crash in a New Jersey forest that killed the pilot and a photographer aboard a helicopter used by Philadelphia station WPVI and a 2022 crash beside a Charlotte, North Carolina, interstate that killed a pilot and meteorologist during a training flight for WBTV.
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Golden reported from Seattle.
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