News Helicopter Crash in Chatsworth Kills Three After Covering Fatal Bus Crash
A television news helicopter crashed in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley on Tuesday evening, September 15, killing the two people on board and one person on the ground. The Guardian
The Los Angeles Fire Department logged the crash at 06:57PM at 9151 N Mason Av in Chatsworth. It was listed as AIRCRAFT CRASH/ CRASH IMMINENT under incident number INC#1526. That dispatch label puts the crash at about 7 p.m. local time Tuesday. Los Angeles Fire Department
The aircraft was NewsChopper4, which provides aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52. NBC Los Angeles It was covering a bus and SUV crash a couple of blocks away. That earlier collision happened at about 5 p.m. local time. It killed two people and sent several others to the hospital. The Guardian
NBC Los Angeles identified the two people aboard NewsChopper4 as reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. Sky News Moreno, known as "Eli," worked as an aerial reporter for KNBC and KVEA. Yahoo News She was born and raised in Orange County and graduated from Chapman University with a degree in broadcast journalism and political science. Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974. Both were employees of Angel City Air. They began flying together in 2023. NBC4 Los Angeles anchor Coleen Williams confirmed live on air that Moreno and Marciniw were killed. The Guardian
The third person killed was a pedestrian near the crash site. That person's identity is not known. The Guardian
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at a Tuesday night news conference that five Angelenos were lost that day in the bus collision and the helicopter crash. Five people died in one evening. The count connects two separate scenes blocks apart.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration said they will investigate the helicopter crash. The NTSB leads federal crash investigations, while the FAA oversees civil aviation safety. The Guardian
The broader context here is the speed of the loss. A crew sent to document one fatal collision died in a second one. For a local newsroom, that turn is hard to absorb. Aerial reporters and pilots work as a close team, flight after flight. Viewers learn their voices — a steady presence from above — without ever seeing their faces. Losing a pair that had flown together since 2023 removes experience as well as two colleagues.
Looking at what this means for Los Angeles, the impact reaches past the newsroom. Two emergencies, minutes and blocks apart, pulled on the same first responders and the same neighborhoods. The mayor's tally of five captured that shared shock. What comes next is an inquiry into how an observation flight over an active emergency scene led to further death on the ground.
In my view, the questions that will shape public understanding are narrow and procedural. Investigators will establish the flight path, communications, and mechanical condition. News organizations will review their own rules for covering breaking incidents from the air. None of that can be judged from the facts available now, and the pedestrian death adds a part that investigators and city officials will have to address with care.
