Three people died when a local news helicopter crashed in a Los Angeles neighborhood on Tuesday evening while covering a traffic collision, prompting on-air grief from their colleagues at NBC4 and Telemundo 52 as federal investigators opened an inquiry into the disaster.
A routine news gathering flight turned fatal late Tuesday afternoon when NewsChopper4 crashed in the Chatsworth neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. The aircraft, operated by Angel City Air for local stations NBCLA and Telemundo 52, went down shortly before 7 p.m. local time.
The crew was in the air to report on a separate crash involving a bus and an SUV that had left at least two people dead and six others injured, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The helicopter plummeted to earth roughly 2.4 kilometers away from that initial collision scene, striking the ground near a large commercial warehouse and parking lot.
On-Air Grief and Station Confirmation
Hours after the crash, anchor Colleen Williams delivered the confirmation live during the NBC4 broadcast as newsroom staff grappled with the unfolding tragedy. The station had spent tense hours trying to reestablish contact before receiving official word.
We’ve been piecing the facts together. We knew it was a news helicopter and that we had lost contact with our team. We just received confirmation. Colleen Williams, news anchor for NBC4 Los Angeles, via Lanacion
Victims Identified as Experienced Aerial Crew
The victims were identified as aerial reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. Both worked for Angel City Air, a helicopter rental company that operated the NewsChopper4, and had flown frequently together since 2023 to cover news.
Marciniw, a Southern California native born and raised in the region, graduated from Burbank High School in 1974 and was very well known and respected in the industry. Described by peers as an excellent pilot who often went by the name Jorge when working at Telemundo 52, he frequently flew the night shifts alongside Moreno.
A third person, who was outside in the parking lot next to the commercial building at the time of the impact, was also killed. Authorities have not yet released the identity of the person on the ground. Two other individuals were transported to the hospital, according to Rico A. Gross, battalion chief for the fire department, though their initial condition was not revealed.
Emergency Response and Wreckage Investigation
More than 70 firefighters responded to the disaster zone, where the impact ignited a fire that quickly engulfed the aircraft, at least four cars, and two storage containers on the ground before being quickly extinguished by authorities. Captain Branden Silverman, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department, noted the severity of the destruction at the scene.
Federal authorities are now leading the technical investigation into why the aircraft went down. Both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated they would investigate the cause of the helicopter accident and send an investigator on Wednesday.
Federal records show that the incident adds to a history of news aviation accidents. At least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters have occurred across the United States since 2000, resulting in 16 deaths, according to a review of federal accident records and news reports. These include a 2023 crash in a New Jersey forest that killed the pilot and a photographer aboard a WPVI Philadelphia helicopter, and a 2022 crash alongside an interstate highway in Charlotte, North Carolina, that killed a pilot and a meteorologist during a training flight for WBTV.
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