NBC4 helicopter crashes in Chatsworth, killing 3: ‘A deeply traumatic day’

Three people were killed when an NBC4 news helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday night in Chatsworth not far from a serious accident involving a Metro bus that also left three people dead.

The area was already swarming with police, fire officials and the news media because of the bus crash when there was a fireball and people heard a loud explosion a few blocks away.

The chopper went down between two commercial buildings in the 9100 block of Mason Avenue around 7 p.m.

NBC4 news anchor Colleen Williams confirmed around 9 p.m. that the station’s Chopper 4 had crashed. She had earlier told viewers that the station had lost contact with its team in the air.

“We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, to process, and to regroup,” Williams said before the station ended its live coverage.

The LAFD said at least one person on the ground was killed. Two others were taken to the hospital.

KNBC said reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw were killed.

Moreno “graduated from Chapman University with a degree in broadcast journalism and political science. She’d been flying in news choppers since the year 2010. George Marciniw, her helicopter pilot, grew up here in Southern California. He graduated from Burbank High School in 1974. They began flying together in 2023. George and Eliana often flew together, and you probably recall she often referred to him when they were covering stories together,” Williams said.

The helicopter crashed in a driveway between two warehouses, smashing into a pair of truck cargo containers. Four nearby vehicles also caught fire. Neither of the warehouse buildings were hit.

A helicopter crashed near where a Metro bus and SUV collided Tuesday evening.

(KTLA)

Woodland Hills resident Allyona Sevanesian said she and her husband were en route to a grocery store when she saw a cloud of smoke and they investigated “to make sure everybody was OK” but found a sobering scene.

“We drove there ... behind the building,” the publicist said. “There was a gentleman that was hit by the helicopter.”

By 7:30 p.m., the flames were extinguished by police and fire crews at the scene.

The crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Earlier in the evening, three people were killed and as many as six others injured when an SUV smashed into the side of a Metro bus in Chatsworth. The lodged vehicle trapped bus riders, who had to be extricated by first responders.

A Metro Line 166 bus was traveling eastbound on Nordhoff Street at 5:02 p.m. when it was hit by the SUV traveling southbound on De Soto Avenue, according to L.A. Metro.

Those injured in the bus crash were taken to a local hospital, according to Jennifer Middleton, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department. No information was immediately available on the severity of the injuries. The Fire Department said it did not have a breakdown of how many of the eight people were in the bus or the SUV.

Soon after the wreck, local TV news video showed the front half of the SUV embedded in the side of the bus. Later, the vehicle was removed and a gaping hole was visible in the Metro bus’ side, with wreckage strewn around the scene. A white tent was erected nearby.

About 50 people, including families with young children, were gathered near the site of the bus crash late Tuesday.

Bystanders watch as police and L.A. Metro officials investigate the scene in Chatsworth where an SUV slammed into the side of a Metro bus.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

“Anybody could be gone in a minute, you know?” said Winnetka resident Michael Sanchez, a physical therapist. When he learned of the tragedies, he decided, “let me go over there, look at the crash and say a couple of prayers.”

At a news conference around 9:45 p.m. near where the helicopter went down, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass praised first responders who rushed to two “incredibly difficult” incidents within hours.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, whose district includes the neighborhood of Chatsworth, also spoke, saying she wanted to “acknowledge just how many people are carrying this tragedy this evening. The riders who were on that bus, the Metro operator, and our bus operators across our system who mourn.”

“Members of our local news community who came here to do their jobs and experienced a profound tragedy of their own. This has been a deeply traumatic day for far too many people.”

More than 70 firefighters responded to the scene of the helicopter crash, according to LAFD Capt. Rico Gross. “We did have a loss of lives, three members of the community, and two members were transported to the hospital,” he said.

“We will now be turning it over to NTSB for their continued investigation, but LAFD will continue assisting with the final extinguishment,” Gross said. “We do have some container boxes that are still a priority for us.”

When NBC4 resumed its live coverage around 9:40 p.m., anchor Williams said the news station’s helicopter team had been out covering the bus crash. “We’re getting ready to go on the air with that ... and we see this large plume of smoke, and realize something else has happened.

“Just a couple blocks away, our helicopter went down, it crashed,” she said.

“One person in the parking lot was killed, and two people on board the chopper also lost their lives. It’s just so difficult to comprehend and to wrap your brain around.”

NBC-TV Channel 4 and Telemundo’s KVEA-TV Channel 52 said in a statement late Tuesday, “We are deeply saddened to share that a helicopter providing aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 was involved in a fatal accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”

The aviation tragedy was not the first that NBC4 had experienced.

In 1977, Francis Gary Powers was killed in a helicopter crash in Encino while working as a “Telecopter” reporter for KNBC.

Powers and a KNBC cameraman, George Spears, were returning from covering brushfires north of Santa Barbara when the helicopter Powers was piloting crashed into an open field near the Sepulveda Dam, carving a 21-foot-long gouge in the ground and killing both men.

According to The Times’ archives, Powers was a “conservative flier” who, on his final flight, ran out of fuel.

Powers was a figure in Cold War history. While employed as a U-2 spy-plane pilot for the CIA, Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.

In 2000, a Fox 11 helicopter covering the Academy Awards crashed and burst into flames at Van Nuys Airport. The pilot reported mechanical difficulties moments before the crash in the southeast corner of the airport, The Times reported at the time. A television helicopter pilot from a competing station who overheard emergency radio transmissions from the helicopter said the craft was headed for the Shrine Auditorium just after 10 p.m. when the pilot reported a loss of hydraulic power.

In 2019, an ABC7 chopper was struck by an object believed to be a drone while flying over downtown Los Angeles. No one was hurt.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted: “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.”

Times staff writers Meg James, Jasmine Mendez and Richard Winton contributed to this report.