Los Angeles News Helicopter Crashes Mid-Broadcast, Killing Three

A news helicopter crashed and caught fire in Los Angeles on Tuesday while its crew was covering a collision between an SUV and a city bus, killing three people, including two journalists aboard.

Those killed in the aircraft were identified as Eliana Moreno, an aerial journalist, and pilot George Marciniw. A third person, Edy Gutierrez Mejia, died on the ground, according to fire officials.

The crash unfolded live on air, adding to a grim tally of at least eight fatal news helicopter accidents in the United States since 2000, which together have claimed 16 lives.

Moreno, widely known as "Eli in the Heli," had worked as an aerial journalist since 2010, mastering a demanding form of reporting that combines shooting video, editing and live broadcasting with an intimate knowledge of the city. In a 2023 social media post, she described the job as the best in the world.

She and Marciniw were regarded as the "eyes and ears in the sky" for two newsrooms, logging hundreds of hours together since they began working as a team in 2023. Marciniw was believed to have had more than 30 years of flight experience and was respected in the industry. A fellow pilot said he had known Marciniw since the 1990s and that the two had recently discussed retirement.

Moreno told her alma mater, Chapman University, that her role required her to act as photographer, reporter and editor simultaneously. In a social media post from Whiteman Airport, she said brush fires were among the most critical stories to cover from the air because a helicopter can show where a fire started, where it is heading and which homes are threatened.

Aerial news reporting has deep roots in Los Angeles, where the "Telecopter" made its debut in 1958. Its inventor, John Silva, then chief engineer at KTLA-TV, conceived the idea as a way to beat competitors to major stories by rising above traffic and arriving first. The project was kept secret, with the helicopter fitted at a news executive's property, and camera equipment pared down from about 2,000 pounds to under 400 pounds so it could be airborne.

The first broadcast from the air came on the evening of July 24, 1958, when KTLA preempted regular programming to show views of the city. The station attracted record advertising, and Silva later won two Emmy awards for the invention.

Airborne coverage went on to define live television journalism, drawing millions of viewers to events such as the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 police chase of O.J. Simpson's white Ford Bronco.

The format has also carried risk. In 1977, a news helicopter crashed after running out of fuel while returning from a wildfire in Santa Barbara, killing the pilot and camera operator. Nine years later, a helicopter carrying a radio traffic reporter plunged into the Hudson River during a live rush-hour broadcast, killing the reporter and critically injuring the pilot. In 2007, two news helicopters covering a police chase collided on live television, killing all four people aboard; investigators concluded that the pilots, who were also acting as reporters, had been distracted by the chase.

Journalists and pilots follow strict protocols to manage such risks. After the 2007 collision in Phoenix, five news stations agreed to share a single helicopter. One company operating in Houston requires its pilots to stay above 500 feet so they have altitude to handle problems such as engine failure.

A news helicopter is more than a flying camera, said Tammy Rose, a journalist with more than 20 years of experience who now reports for ABC-13 in Houston. From the aircraft, she said, a reporter can see the larger scene, communicate with the newsroom, gather information and report live as events unfold.