Los Angeles news helicopter crash kills 3; victims named

Three people were killed Tuesday when an NBC4 news helicopter crashed in Los Angeles while covering a deadly bus crash, and the station identified two of the victims as reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw.

The helicopter came down just before 7:00 pm in the Chatsworth area, northwest of downtown Los Angeles, near where an SUV had hit a bus, killing three people and injuring many others.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said four patients were assessed after the helicopter crash: three died at the scene and one was taken to a local hospital in unknown condition. The department said the helicopter went down between two commercial buildings, damaging four vehicles and two containers.

NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams said during live coverage that the station had lost contact with its people in the helicopter before receiving confirmation it had gone down. NBC4 said the aircraft was NewsChopper 4. The third person killed appeared to have been a pedestrian on the ground.

Reporters at the bus crash scene said they heard a loud bang, and some said they saw a helicopter come down about a block away. Aerial footage showed a large fire and helicopter wreckage in the flames.

The cause was unclear. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating.