A television news helicopter covering a deadly Los Angeles-area crash went down in flames of its own Tuesday evening, killing the two crew members aboard and a third person on the ground, according to NBC Los Angeles. The aircraft, known on air as NewsChopper4 and flown for NBC4 and its Spanish-language sister station Telemundo 52, crashed shortly before 7 p.m. in Chatsworth, just blocks from the scene it had been streaming live minutes earlier.
Two crashes, one night, one stretch of the Valley
The chain of events began around 5 p.m., when an SUV slammed into the side of a Los Angeles Metro bus near Nordhoff Street and De Soto Avenue, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles. NewsChopper4 launched to cover the collision, as local stations routinely do for major traffic incidents. Less than two hours later, at 6:57 p.m., the aircraft dropped into the narrow gap separating two commercial buildings on the 9100 block of Mason Avenue; the resulting blaze consumed four parked cars and a pair of cargo containers nearby, Fox 11 reported. More than 70 firefighters responded, according to The Associated Press.
Who were Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw
Moreno grew up in Orange County and earned her college degree in 2010, pairing broadcast journalism coursework with political science at Chapman University before going straight into the cockpit as an aerial reporter for Angel City Air, the firm that supplies the helicopter and crew for NBC4 and Telemundo 52, according to NBC News. She had partnered with pilot George Marciniw since 2023 and was known on social media as "Eli in the heli." Marciniw brought more than three decades of flight experience to the cockpit. NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams called Moreno a "valued friend and colleague" during a live broadcast after her death was confirmed. The identity of the third victim, who was on the ground when the aircraft came down, had not been released as of Wednesday.
What caused the bus collision remains unclear
Los Angeles Fire Department officials put the bus crash's on-scene toll at two, with six more people hospitalized. A Metro spokesperson later told MyNewsLA that the SUV's driver had since succumbed to injuries in a hospital, a development that would push that crash's toll to three and the night's combined count to six — a figure not yet reflected in every account. Investigators have not said what caused the SUV to strike the bus.
City leaders react as federal investigators take over
Mayor Karen Bass addressed the dual tragedy hours later, saying, "We lost five Angelenos today," and adding that Chatsworth would feel the loss for some time to come, per CBS Los Angeles. She also posted a longer statement of condolence on X to the families of everyone lost in both the bus collision and the helicopter crash.
I'm absolutely devastated by the loss of life in Chatsworth tonight. My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash.
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) September 16, 2026
Governor Gavin Newsom likewise extended condolences "with the entire NBC4 family" and thanked first responders in a post on X.
Our hearts are with the victims and families of tonight's devastating Metro bus and helicopter crashes in Chatsworth, and with the entire NBC4 family.
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) September 16, 2026
Thank you to the first responders working tirelessly tonight.
A witness identified as Allyona Sevanesian described watching the aircraft falter before it went down, telling Fox 11 that "the helicopter was swaying" moments before impact. Breaking-news aggregator BNO News was among the first accounts to publish a casualty count as the story developed Tuesday night.
UPDATE: 3 people confirmed dead, including 1 person on the ground, and 1 more taken to hospital, LAFD says https://t.co/ozEh8Z3WFy
— BNO News (@BNONews) September 16, 2026
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration confirmed they would jointly investigate the helicopter crash beginning Wednesday, a process that in comparable cases has taken months to produce even preliminary findings. Neither the Los Angeles Police Department nor Metro has publicly determined what caused the original SUV-bus collision that NewsChopper4 was covering when it went down.
