Mourners Build Memorial at Whiteman Airport for LA News Helicopter Crash Victims

Friends, colleagues and admirers gathered at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles on Wednesday to build a makeshift memorial for reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw, who died when their news helicopter crashed in the San Fernando Valley.

Mourners attached photographs to the fence near the spot where the pair used to park, laid flowers and arranged the names Eliana and George in stones, turning the airfield into a place of remembrance.

Anthony Sarabia, a press photographer whose team helped organise the tribute, said the location was chosen deliberately. "Our team, Traffic News LA, decided to come to where News Chopper 4 usually is parked at," he said. "We felt it was a better place to set up a memorial rather than the crash sight. This is where Eliana and her pilot George would come and set up for work, fly out and come land."

Jake Asner, a former intern who flew with Moreno, remembered her warmth and generosity as a mentor. "Just the nicest person you could ever meet. I mean, just the purest soul," he said, adding that she often spoke of her husband and her dogs and taught him more in a week of flying than he thought possible.

George Kapoyan, a longtime friend of Marciniw, said the gathering helped him confront the loss. "We share a lot of memories here together. It's kind of like the last place he took off and I guess some kind of symbolism to be out here, hoping he'll return," he said. "Just letting reality sink in and it helps mourn you know, the loss of an amazing friend."

The helicopter, a Eurocopter AS350, went down in the Chatsworth neighbourhood on Tuesday near a large storage facility while the crew was reporting on a collision involving an SUV that had slammed into a bus. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the aircraft caught fire.

A person on the ground, identified as 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia, also died in a parking lot. He was from Guatemala, the country's consulate confirmed.

There were no immediate details on what caused the crash, but an alarm could be heard sounding inside the cockpit as the helicopter lost altitude in the final seconds of video the crew broadcast before the impact.

Moreno was a familiar voice for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 during the stations' aerial coverage. She and Marciniw were both employees of Angel City Air, which operated the chopper for the station.