LA News Helicopter Crash Kills Reporter Eliana Moreno and Two Others

A news helicopter operated for NBC and Telemundo crashed into a Los Angeles neighbourhood and caught fire on Tuesday, killing three people, including reporter Eliana Moreno.

NBC4 Los Angeles said Moreno and pilot George Marciniw died when the aircraft went down. A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson said a third person was killed on the ground.

The helicopter came down near a large storage facility in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley. Officials said at least four cars and two storage containers burned after the chopper ignited, and the fire was brought under control quickly.

The crash occurred while news crews were covering an earlier collision in which an SUV struck the middle of a city bus, killing at least two people and injuring six others.

No immediate details emerged on what caused the helicopter to go down. In the final video the crew broadcast live before the crash, an alarm can be heard sounding inside the cockpit as the aircraft loses altitude.

Moreno, who was born in Orange County, joined the Angel City Air helicopter team in 2010, the same year she earned a degree in broadcast journalism and political science from Chapman University. She reported for several Southern California news outlets and began flying with Marciniw in 2023.

In a recent interview with the Whiteman Airport Coalition, Moreno described the demands of her role and the value of aerial newsgathering. "It just goes to show the power that we have from being the eye in the sky," she said.