A news helicopter providing aerial coverage for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 crashed in Chatsworth on Tuesday evening, September 15, killing three people, including aerial reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw.
The aircraft, known as NewsChopper4, was operated by Angel City Air. It was covering a nearby fatal collision involving a Metro bus when it came down in a commercial area of the San Fernando Valley. A person on the ground was also killed.
Helicopter crashes between commercial buildings
The Los Angeles Fire Department logged the incident at 6:57 p.m. local time at 9151 North Mason Avenue. Its first arriving crew reported that a helicopter had crashed between two commercial buildings, with flames threatening nearby vehicles.
Firefighters extinguished the fire, which damaged four cars and two storage containers. The department reported no exposure to surrounding structures.
Two people were taken to hospital, Fire Battalion Chief Rico Gross said at a news conference, according to NBC Los Angeles. Their conditions were not immediately available.
The crash followed a separate emergency less than two hours earlier. Fire crews had been called to a bus and passenger vehicle collision on West Nordhoff Street at 5:03 p.m. The department initially reported two deaths and six people transported to hospitals from that collision.
Several television news helicopters were covering the bus crash, NBC reported.
Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw identified
Moreno joined Angel City Air in September 2010 after graduating from Chapman University. She reported for several Southern California outlets and became a familiar voice during NBC4 and Telemundo 52’s aerial coverage.
Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974. He and Moreno began flying together in 2023, NBC reported.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 issued a joint statement expressing condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those killed. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom also paid tribute to the victims, with Newsom thanking the emergency crews responding to both incidents.
NTSB investigates Eurocopter AS350 B2 crash
In a statement reported by NBC on Wednesday, the NTSB identified the aircraft as a Eurocopter AS350 B2 and said investigators were expected at the site that morning. The Federal Aviation Administration will also be involved in the investigation.
The cause of the crash has not been established.
