3rd victim identified in NBC4 helicopter crash in Los Angeles that also killed reporter, pilot
LOS ANGELES -- The third person who was killed after news helicopter crashed in Los Angeles near the scene of a deadly bus collision in Chatsworth has been identified as the investigation continues into what caused the aircraft to go down.
The helicopter crashed between two commercial buildings around 7 p.m. Tuesday. NBC4 later confirmed that the aircraft that crashed was the station's helicopter, and that reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw died as a result.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the third victim as 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia.
In addition to the three people who died at the scene, one person nearby was taken to the hospital after suffering an apparent panic attack and another person was also hospitalized in unknown condition.
Firefighters said the helicopter was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived. A thick plume of black smoke rose into the air.
The fire department said four vehicles and two storage containers were damaged by the fire. The fire was quickly put out.
"This is a heartbreaking night for our city, and my thoughts and prayers are first and foremost with the families and loved ones that we lost today," L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said at a news conference late Tuesday. "Our hearts are with those impacted by the bus collision and the helicopter crash, and with the entire community who lost members of their team while they were doing their job."
Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked first responders for "working tirelessly tonight."
"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," Newsom said.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 Los Angeles said in a statement they “are deeply saddened” and extended “heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”
“Losing five Angelenos is very painful,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. “And I know this community of Chatsworth, hit hard, will be grieving for some time.”
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate.
Expert talks about what may have caused the crash
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm sounding in the helicopter’s final video sounds like the low rotor RPM warning horn that signals the main rotor is no longer spinning enough to keep the helicopter in the air.
“It just has all the earmarks of a potential loss of engine power and a dangerous decrease in the main rotor speed,” said Guzzetti who used to investigate crashes for both the NTSB and FAA.
Guzzetti said the pilot appeared to be trying to perform an emergency maneuver to use the wind to force the rotor to spin again much like a breeze turns a windmill. Doing that can create a bit of lift that could help cushion the impact, but Guzzetti said there would have been little opportunity to do that because the helicopter had been hovering at a low altitude beforehand.
There are risks to news helicopters particularly in a major city like Los Angeles where multiple helicopters respond to an incident, but the pilots all coordinate closely over the radio to ensure they maintain a safe distance from each other. The industry also shares best practices to help keep these news flights safe.
“It’s a very unique form of flying. And the community is very good about lessons learned," Guzzetti said. “And so because of that, you don’t hear about too many of those accidents. So they’re rare, but they do occur, just because the mission is a risky one.”
Other crashes involving news helicopters
The station said this is the second aviation tragedy in its history.
In 1977, a KNBC news helicopter crashed when it ran out of fuel while returning to the station after covering a wildfire in Santa Barbara, killing the pilot and camera operator. The pilot, former U.S. Air Force officer Francis Gary Powers, had been in the news years earlier when he was shot down and captured while flying a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union for the CIA, an ordeal portrayed in the movie “Bridge of Spies.”
There have been at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the U.S. since 2000, killing 16 people, according to a review of federal accident records and news accounts. They include a 2023 crash in a New Jersey forest that killed the pilot and a photographer aboard a helicopter used by Philadelphia station WPVI and a 2022 crash beside a Charlotte, North Carolina, interstate that killed a pilot and meteorologist during a training flight for WBTV.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
