News Helicopter Crash Deepens Los Angeles Tragedy

At least three people were killed when a news helicopter crashed between two commercial buildings in Los Angeles, near the site of a separate fatal collision involving a public bus and an SUV. The helicopter belonged to NBCLA and had been covering the bus crash when it went down. Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Branden Silverman said authorities were still determining how many people were aboard the aircraft. At least one of those killed was a pedestrian in a nearby car park, while another person was taken to hospital in unknown condition. The crash produced a fireball and caused extensive damage. Firefighters reported that the helicopter was largely destroyed, and the fire damaged four vehicles and two storage containers. Emergency crews searched the rubble for additional victims and worked to extinguish the blaze, which required dozens of firefighters. Authorities said the helicopter had fallen between two commercial buildings and that firefighters were treating the incident as an active fire and medical emergency. The helicopter crash occurred while emergency personnel were already responding to the earlier bus collision. Two people died and six others were injured when an SUV became lodged in the side of a public bus. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass expressed devastation over the loss of life in both incidents and offered condolences to the victims' families. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are expected to investigate the helicopter crash. Officials had not immediately determined what caused the aircraft to go down or how many people were aboard.

Photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw were among three people killed when NBC Los Angeles’s NewsChopper4 helicopter crashed in Chatsworth, a suburban area of Los Angeles. The helicopter, which also operated for Telemundo 52, had been covering a separate deadly collision involving an SUV and a city bus. That bus crash killed two people and injured six others. Fire officials said the third person killed in the helicopter incident appeared to have been on the ground, while two other people were taken to hospital. The helicopter crashed shortly before 19:00 local time between two commercial buildings. The resulting fire spread to four vehicles and two storage containers, prompting the deployment of more than 70 firefighters. During live coverage, NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams confirmed that the station had lost contact with its helicopter crew before receiving confirmation of the deaths. The incident prompted an outpouring of grief from Los Angeles’s news community and public officials. NBC hosts described Moreno and Marciniw as valued friends and colleagues, while CBS Los Angeles assignment editor Mike Rogers said the local helicopter-news community was devastated. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom expressed condolences to the victims’ families, including those affected by the bus crash, and thanked first responders. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the helicopter crash.

A local NBC News helicopter crashed in Chatsworth, in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, while a news crew was covering an earlier collision between an SUV and a city bus. The helicopter burst into flames, killing two people aboard and at least one person on the ground, according to NBC4 Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Fire Department. Two additional people were taken to hospital, although their conditions were not immediately known. The fire also damaged at least four cars and two storage containers before firefighters extinguished it. The helicopter was operated by Angel City Air for NBC and Telemundo. The two people killed aboard were identified as Eliana Moreno, a reporter and familiar voice on NBC4 and Telemundo 52’s aerial coverage, and pilot George Marciniw. Moreno joined Angel City Air in 2010 after earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science from Chapman University. Marciniw was a Southern California native and a 1974 graduate of Burbank High School. NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams confirmed the deaths during a live broadcast, visibly shaken before the coverage ended. The helicopter crew had been reporting on a separate crash earlier that day in which an SUV struck the middle of a city bus. That collision killed at least two people and injured six others. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the loss of five Angelenos was painful and that the Chatsworth community would grieve. California Gov. Gavin Newsom also expressed condolences and thanked emergency responders. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration planned to arrive Wednesday to investigate the helicopter crash. The article notes that at least eight fatal U.S. news-helicopter crashes have occurred since 2000, killing 16 people, including accidents during live broadcasts in Phoenix and Seattle.

A helicopter crashed into a parking lot in Los Angeles on Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring another, according to US officials. The fourth victim was taken to a hospital, but their condition was not immediately known. Authorities were still determining how many of those killed or injured had been inside the helicopter and how many victims were on the ground. The Los Angeles Fire Department said at least one person killed was outside the aircraft. The helicopter struck or landed near several parked vehicles at a parking lot serving a large, single-storey building. The crash sparked a fire that damaged four vehicles and two storage containers, although firefighters had extinguished it by Tuesday evening. More than 50 firefighters responded to the scene. Fire department spokesperson Captain Branden Silverman described the helicopter as “pretty well destroyed,” saying investigators and emergency crews would need to search through the rubble to determine the number of people aboard. The crash occurred near the site of a separate deadly bus accident earlier the same day. Officials said two people were killed and six others injured when an SUV crashed into a city bus. The relationship, if any, between the two incidents was unclear. Images showed part of the SUV lodged in the side of a Los Angeles MTA bus while firefighters worked at the scene. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the helicopter crash. The article does not identify the victims or provide details about the helicopter’s operator, the cause of the crash, or the condition of the hospitalized person.

A news helicopter operated by NBC News crashed in Los Angeles on Tuesday while covering a deadly bus collision. The crash killed three people and resulted in two others being taken to hospital, although the article does not identify the victims or provide details about the injured individuals’ conditions. The report also does not specify the helicopter’s exact location beyond describing the crash site as being near a storage facility, nor does it state what caused the aircraft to go down. Aerial footage from the scene showed the helicopter wreckage engulfed in flames. The fire was not confined to the aircraft: flames spread to nearby vehicles and storage containers. Firefighters responded to the incident and extinguished the fires. The footage and description indicate that the crash created a significant emergency response in an area containing commercial storage facilities and other property at risk from the blaze. The helicopter had been covering the bus collision when it crashed, linking two serious incidents in the report: the original deadly collision and the subsequent aircraft disaster. The brief France 24 video item focuses on the fatalities, hospitalizations, visible fire damage, and firefighting response. It provides no further information about the bus collision, the helicopter crew or passengers, possible witnesses, investigations, or whether anyone on the ground was affected. The report is presented as a concise breaking-news update based on aerial footage and does not offer analysis or commentary about responsibility or the cause of the crash.

A news helicopter covering a deadly bus collision crashed in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, killing three people. One of those killed appeared to be a pedestrian on the ground; authorities had not immediately confirmed the identities of the helicopter’s occupants. The helicopter crash occurred as media organizations were responding to a separate fatal accident in which an SUV struck a bus in the area, killing three people and injuring many others. Reporters at the bus-crash scene said they heard a loud bang and saw a helicopter come down about a block away, creating heavy smoke and a large fire involving shipping containers and cars. Aerial footage showed the helicopter’s wreckage, including its damaged tail and rotors, amid the flames. Police confirmed that the aircraft was a media helicopter, while Los Angeles television station NBC4 said it had lost contact with its crew. During emotional live coverage, veteran anchor Colleen Williams confirmed that the crashed aircraft belonged to the station. The Los Angeles Fire Department said four patients were assessed at the scene; three were pronounced dead and one was taken to a local hospital in unknown condition. Dozens of firefighters responded. The crash highlighted the risks associated with aerial news coverage in Los Angeles, a large and highly competitive media market where television stations regularly use helicopters to report on fires, car chases, and other major incidents. News helicopters generally carry two people: a pilot and a reporter-camera operator. The article did not provide the names of those aboard or a cause for the helicopter crash.

An NBC local news helicopter crashed in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, killing three people, according to NBC’s live television broadcast. The helicopter was identified as NewsChopper 4, an aircraft used by NBC Los Angeles to cover breaking news. The crash occurred while the crew was covering a fatal bus crash in the Chatsworth neighbourhood. The article does not provide details about the identities of those killed, the helicopter’s occupants, the cause of the crash, or the circumstances of the earlier bus collision. NBC Los Angeles anchors reported that the station had been trying to establish what had happened after losing contact with its colleagues in the field. Anchor Colleen Williams said the station initially knew only that a news helicopter was involved and that contact with the crew had been lost. The station later received confirmation that NewsChopper 4 had gone down shortly before 7 p.m. in Chatsworth. The report is attributed to Reuters and was published by the South China Morning Post. It presents the incident as a developing breaking-news event, relying primarily on information broadcast by NBC rather than offering an independent account of the crash. The deaths of three people and the loss of a news aircraft make the incident a significant tragedy for the station and the wider Los Angeles community. Further information about the investigation, emergency response, and the relationship between the helicopter crash and the fatal bus crash is not included in the provided article.

Three people were killed and a fourth person was hospitalized after a helicopter crashed in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles on the evening of Sept 15, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Four patients were assessed at the crash site; three were pronounced dead, while the fourth was transported to a local hospital in an unknown condition. The crash occurred on a day when Chatsworth had already experienced a serious vehicle collision involving a Los Angeles Metro bus and a passenger vehicle. That earlier collision killed at least two people. Several media reports said the helicopter may have been a television news helicopter, because multiple news helicopters were flying over the area while covering the bus crash. However, Reuters said it could not immediately verify the helicopter’s identity or its connection to a news organization. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are expected to investigate the helicopter crash. The Los Angeles Fire Department said it had not immediately provided further details in response to emailed questions. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass expressed grief over the deaths from both incidents, saying she was “devastated” by the loss of life and thanking emergency responders for their swift response. The article does not provide information about the cause of the helicopter crash, the identities of those killed or injured, or the condition of the hospitalized survivor beyond noting that it was unknown at the time of publication.