Memorial service honors NBC4 pilot, reporter killed in helicopter crash

LOS ANGELES -- A community is in mourning as they remember their beloved friend, NBC4 news helicopter pilot George Marciniw, who was killed alongside reporter Eliana Moreno and a bystander on the ground when their aircraft went down.

Sunday morning, parishioners gathered at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, in the Little Armenia neighborhood of Los Angeles, for their weekly mass. This is George's home parish -- he grew up in the church and was well-known and loved.

A memorial service was held remembering George and Eliana.

This was also the first mass since George and Eliana were killed in a helicopter crash in Chatsworth last week while covering a news story.

"He was always talking about Eliana. Sometimes it was just funny. I would see some NBC4 helicopter fly around and I would call or text George - is that you? Where are you going?" said Father Koshik.

The helicopter crash also killed a bystander on the ground -- 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia.

Father Koshik says he got the chance to see George in action.

"He took me on a flight with him and I was scared," he said.

He asked George -- what if the engine fails, what if we start going down?

"He was smiling like this and he said don't worry, we know how to land the helicopter when the engine fails," Father Koshik said.

Father Koshik remembered that flight when he saw reports of the NBC4 helicopter going down.

"100% I was like that's not you. It's not you because you know how to handle this kind of stuff."

"This is very sad cause, you know, he was a very easy-going guy. I would say almost happy go lucky," said Bohdan Buchynsky, a friend of George's for over six decades.

While most of Sunday's mass was in Ukrainian, an English sermon was given honoring George.

"He was one of our own. We honor him and pray for him. We remember him, we mourn him. But also I wanted to thank all the news, media, reporter community because he was one of their own too," Father Koshik said.

And what was clear at Sunday's mass was that George found community here on the ground, but he found his passion thousands of feet above it.

"Talking about George's love for air, for helicopters, you know, he was so proud of this," said Father Koshik. "You love what you do, you never work, so George was just living the life."

Eliana's family shared more memories this weekend. Her brother Johan shared pictures on social media, saying Eliana worked at Coco's Restaurant at 16 years old -- bringing home pie everyday because she famously loved free food.

He also said Eliana was a diehard Los Angeles sports fan, going to countless Lakers, Rams, Angels and Dodger games.