3 killed after television news helicopter crashes in Los Angeles
Sep 16, 2026, 6:01 AM
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
Three people were killed, and another was injured when a television news helicopter crashed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, authorities said.
The news crew from KNBC was among several Los Angeles news outlets that were covering a Metro bus collision with an SUV that left at least two people dead and six others injured, KTLA reported. The helicopter crash occurred at about 7 p.m. PT in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to the television station. KNBC, along with several other media outlets, had deployed helicopters to the scene, the Los Angeles Times reported.
KNBC confirmed that the helicopter was a NewsChopper4 aircraft and was providing coverage for the news outlet and KVEA, the city’s Telemundo affiliate. The helicopter was operated by Angel City Air, the television station reported.
Killed in the crash were Angel City Air employees Eliana Moreno, a familiar voice for KNBC and Telemundo 52 for the stations’ aerial coverage, and pilot George Marciniw, KNBC reported. The third person was killed on the ground and died at the scene. Their identity has not been released, according to the television station.
Two of the three victims killed in Tuesday’s NBC4 helicopter crash in Chatsworth have been identified as reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. The crash happened while the aircraft was providing aerial coverage near the scene of a deadly bus collision.… pic.twitter.com/Q4Qm1AlLuE
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 16, 2026
At 9 p.m. PT, veteran KNBC anchor Colleen Williams confirmed that it was the news station’s chopper that had crashed.
“We’ve been piecing it together. We knew it was a news chopper. We knew we had lost contact with our people out there. Now we have confirmation,” Williams said on the air, according to the Times. “We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, to process, and to regroup.”
The helicopter crashed in a driveway between two warehouses and struck two truck cargo containers, the newspaper reported. Four nearby vehicles also caught fire, but neither warehouse building was hit.
“The helicopter itself, it’s pretty well destroyed, so we are going to have to go through the rubble and see how many victims there were on board, as well as identify the helicopter,” Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Branden Silverman said during a news conference, KCBS reported.
Born in Orange County, Moreno was a 2010 graduate of Chapman University, where she earned a degree in broadcast journalism and political science.
Moreno joined the Angel City Air helicopter team in September 2010 and has reported for several Southern California media outlets.
Marciniw grew up in Southern California, a 1974 grad of Burbank High School.
When KNBC resumed its live coverage around 9:40 p.m. ET, Williams said the news station’s helicopter team had been out covering the bus crash, the Times reported.
“We’re getting ready to go on the air with that … and we see this large plume of smoke, and realize something else has happened,” Williams said. “Just a couple blocks away, our helicopter went down; it crashed.
“One person in the parking lot was killed, and two people on board the chopper also lost their lives. It’s just so difficult to comprehend and to wrap your brain around.”
“We are deeply saddened to share that a helicopter providing aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 was involved in a fatal accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening,” KNBC and Telemundo said in a joint statement. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass commented on the helicopter and bus crashes during a news conference, KTLA reported.
“This is a very, very tragic day in Los Angeles,” Bass told reporters. “We lost five Angelenos today, and my hearts certainly go out to the families and friends to all of those that we lost.
“This is a heartbreaking night for our city, and my thoughts and prayers are first and foremost with the families and loved ones that we lost today.”
The aviation tragedy was not the first for KNBC.
On Aug. 1, 1977, Francis Gary Powers was killed in a helicopter crash in Encino while working as a “Telecopter” reporter for KNBC, the Times reported.
Powers was a figure in Cold War history. While employed as a U-2 spy-plane pilot for the CIA, Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, according to the newspaper.
Bass added more condolences in a social media post.
”I’m absolutely devastated by the loss of life in Chatsworth tonight,” Bass wrote. “My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash.”
I’m absolutely devastated by the loss of life in Chatsworth tonight. My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash.
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) September 16, 2026
“Our hearts are with the victims and families of tonight’s devastating Metro bus and helicopter crashes in Chatsworth, and with the entire NBC4 family,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in a social media post.
The crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Times reported.
