Three people died Tuesday evening when a news helicopter operated by Angel City Air crashed and burst into flames in a Chatsworth parking lot. The aircraft, assigned to aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52, went down shortly before 7 p.m. while crews reported on an earlier fatal bus collision.
A routine evening of news coverage in Los Angeles turned catastrophic on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, when a news helicopter covering a fatal transit crash went down in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Chatsworth. The disaster claimed the lives of both crew members aboard the aircraft and one pedestrian on the ground, according to emergency officials and network reports.
The aircraft, identified by local station NewsChopper 4, was operated by Angel City Air and providing aerial footage for both NBC4 and Telemundo 52. As multiple television news helicopters monitored a collision between an SUV and a Los Angeles Metro bus on Nordhoff Street, the situation escalated rapidly.
Final Moments and Descent Over Chatsworth
The helicopter crashed at approximately 6:58 p.m. in the 9100 block of North Mason Avenue, coming down between two commercial buildings near a self-storage facility. Live video transmissions were being sent back to its parent TV station for review when audio captured the final seconds of the flight, featuring aerial photojournalist Eliana Moreno asking pilot George Marciniw, What? You can’t pull up?
before the feed abruptly cut out.
Eyewitnesses on the ground reported erratic movement from the aircraft before impact.
From the helicopter itself, it’s pretty well destroyed, 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.
Fire Capt. Branden Silverman, Los Angeles Fire Department
The impact triggered a violent fire that engulfed four cars and two storage containers. Firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department extinguished the blaze quickly, while police units and ambulances flooded the commercial corridor.
Victims Identified as Angel City Air Employees
Network anchors and emergency officials confirmed that the crash killed the two aviation professionals aboard and one individual on the ground. NBC Los Angeles identified the flight crew as pilot George Marciniw and aerial photojournalist Eliana Moreno. Both were employees of Angel City Air, a full-service aerial production company.
Moreno, a native of Orange County, graduated from Chapman University in 2010 with a degree in broadcast journalism and political science, joining the Angel City Air helicopter team that same year. Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School. Colleagues noted the pair had been flying together since 2023.
During a live broadcast, NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams struggled with emotion while breaking the news to viewers.
We knew it was a news chopper, we knew we’d lost contact with our people out there, and we’ve just received the confirmation that, in fact, NewsChopper 4 went down just before 7 o’clock tonight in Chatsworth.
Colleen Williams, Anchor for NBC4 Los Angeles
Emergency Response and Federal Investigation
The helicopter tragedy unfolded against the backdrop of an already severe transit accident. Earlier on Tuesday afternoon at 5:03 p.m., an SUV collided with a Los Angeles Metro bus on Nordhoff Street, killing two people and injuring six others, leaving half of the passenger vehicle wedged into the side of the bus.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass addressed reporters near the scene, calling it a heartbreaking night for the municipality. California Gov. Gavin Newsom also released a statement thanking first responders for working through the night across both incident locations.
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