Los Angeles News Helicopter Crash Kills Reporter, Pilot and Bystander

A television news helicopter crashed and burst into flames in Los Angeles on Tuesday, killing all three people involved, including two journalists aboard and a person on the ground.

The aircraft, a Eurocopter AS350 flown for NBC4 and Telemundo, went down in the Chatsworth neighbourhood of the San Fernando Valley, north of downtown Los Angeles. The station identified the two people on board as reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office said a third victim, 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia, died in a parking lot at the scene.

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

Esteban Jimenez, a pilot who said he had previously worked with both Telemundo and NBC and knew the two crew members, remembered them warmly. He described Moreno as a young woman who was widely liked and who represented other Latina women, saying she was loved by everyone at the airport.

Jimenez said he had seen Marciniw the previous weekend, when they discussed vacations, flying and politics. He recalled that Marciniw consistently carried out his walk-around checks and safety inspections of the aircraft, and said federal aviation authorities would examine what went wrong.

No cause for the crash has been established. Video broadcast by the crew in the final seconds before the helicopter went down captured an alarm sounding in the cockpit as the aircraft lost altitude. Shortly after the beeping began, a woman's voice is heard saying "uh oh," followed by the words "You can't pull up?" before the footage ends as the chopper nears the ground.

The helicopter came down near a large storage facility. At least four cars and two storage containers caught fire after the aircraft ignited.