News helicopter crashes during coverage in Los Angeles as camera captures the final seconds
A news helicopter crashed in Los Angeles while covering another traffic accident, killing three people and leaving two others hospitalized. Economic Times reports this.
The helicopter was operated by Angel City Air and was providing aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 on September 15. The crew was reporting on a collision involving an SUV and a Metro bus in the Chatsworth area when the helicopter went down.
The aircraft crashed in a parking area between commercial buildings, about a mile from the earlier accident. It caught fire after hitting the ground, while nearby vehicles and storage containers were also damaged.
Video recorded from inside the helicopter captured the final seconds of the flight. The footage shows the aircraft suddenly losing altitude and falling rapidly before the recording ends at the moment of the crash.
Three people died in the helicopter crash. They were aerial reporter Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw and a person on the ground. Two other people were taken to hospital after the crash.
More than 70 firefighters responded to the scene as crews worked to extinguish the flames and secure the area. The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Los Angeles crash is not the first fatal helicopter accident involving television news crews in the United States.
In 2007, two television news helicopters collided in midair over Phoenix while covering a police pursuit. Four people aboard the two aircraft were killed.
In 2023, a helicopter operated by Philadelphia station WPVI crashed in New Jersey while returning from an assignment. Pilot Monroe Smith and photographer Christopher Dougherty were killed.
Another fatal incident occurred in Los Angeles in 1977. KNBC reporter Francis Gary Powers and cameraman George Spears died when their news helicopter crashed while returning from coverage of brush fires.
The investigation into the latest Los Angeles crash will determine what caused the helicopter to lose altitude and whether any mechanical or operational problems contributed to the accident.
