Three people were killed when a news helicopter crashed in the Chatsworth neighbourhood of Los Angeles while crews were covering an earlier deadly bus collision, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and NBC Los Angeles.
NBC Los Angeles confirmed that the aircraft was its NewsChopper4, which also operated for Telemundo 52. The station said the two people aboard, Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, were “valued friends and colleagues” who died in the crash. The third victim was on the ground and was not identified in the supplied report.
The aircraft went down shortly before 19:00 local time between two commercial buildings, an LAFD spokesperson told the BBC. Fire spread to four vehicles and two storage containers, and more than 70 firefighters responded. LAFD Captain Branden Silverman told CBS that a person found outside the helicopter was declared dead at the scene.
Several news helicopters had been in the area reporting on a bus crash earlier that day. CBS reported that an SUV had collided with a city bus, killing two people and injuring six others. The supplied material does not state whether that collision was connected to the helicopter crash beyond the news coverage taking place nearby.
During live coverage, NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams said the station had lost contact with its crew before receiving confirmation of the crash. The Los Angeles Police Department, Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom expressed condolences to the victims’ families, colleagues and other people affected by the incidents.
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the helicopter crash, according to the BBC.