A news helicopter operated for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 crashed in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, killing three people and injuring others.
The helicopter, known as NewsChopper4 and operated by Angel City Air, was providing aerial coverage of a separate deadly collision involving an SUV and a city bus when it went down shortly before 7 p.m.
The two people aboard the helicopter who were killed have been identified as NBC4 and Telemundo 52 aerial journalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. A third person on the ground also died. The crash sparked a fire near a commercial storage facility, damaging several vehicles and storage containers. More than 70 firefighters responded to the scene, while emergency crews transported injured people to hospital.
NBC4 confirmed the tragedy during a live broadcast, with anchors informing viewers that the station had lost contact with the helicopter before receiving confirmation that it had crashed. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.
The tragedy occurred only hours after the separate bus collision that the helicopter crew had been covering. That earlier crash killed at least two people and injured six others.
