NBC News helicopter crashes in Los Angeles while covering bus accident, 3 killed
Los Angeles: Three persons were killed after a news helicopter operated for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 crashed in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening while covering a separate road accident in the Chatsworth area.
The helicopter went down shortly before 7 pm local time near a storage facility in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley. The aircraft caught fire after crashing between commercial buildings, damaging several vehicles and storage containers nearby.
The two persons aboard the helicopter were identified as aerial reporter and photographer Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw, both employees of Angel City Air. A third person on the ground also died in the crash. Another two persons were taken to hospital, although their conditions were not immediately released.
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NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams confirmed during a live broadcast that the station had lost contact with its NewsChopper 4 crew. The station later confirmed that the helicopter involved in the crash was its own aircraft.
The helicopter had been sent to the area to provide aerial coverage of an earlier accident involving a Los Angeles Metro bus and an SUV. That crash, which occurred on Nordhoff Street, had already left two persons dead and several others injured. Multiple news helicopters were covering the incident when the NBC aircraft went down nearby.
More than 70 firefighters responded to the helicopter crash and worked to put out the fire. Emergency crews treated several people at the scene before transporting some of them to hospital.
The cause of the helicopter crash has not yet been established. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are expected to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Mayor Karen Bass expressed grief over the deaths, while California Governor Gavin Newsom also offered condolences to the victims' families and those affected by the two incidents.
- With inputs from agencies
