On Tuesday evening in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, around 7pm local time, an NBC4 helicopter (operated by Anger City Air) crashed while following and filming the collision between an SUV and a Metro bus from above, falling a few blocks from the accident site and catching fire after impact on the ground, in a parking lot in the San Fernando Valley. The toll of the two tragedies, which occurred a few hours apart, is six dead, including the reporter Eliana Moreno and the pilot George Marciniw, who were on board the aircraft, and a passerby involved. Police, firefighters and television crews were already working at the site of the bus crash when, around 7pm, a roar and a column of flames attracted attention a few blocks away, where the helicopter had crashed between two commercial buildings on Mason Avenue.
The accident between the SUV and the Metro bus
At the time of the crash, the broadcaster’s helicopter was filming the scene of the accident from above on Nordhoff Street, where shortly before a car had collided with a bus causing three deaths and numerous injuries. According to LA Metro’s reconstruction, at 5.02pm a bus on line 166 was traveling eastbound along Nordhoff Street when an SUV coming from De Soto Avenue, heading south, hit it squarely on the side. The impact was such that the front part of the car remained stuck in public transport, as the first images from local television showed, and the passengers remained stuck inside until the rescuers arrived and freed them.
The helicopter crashed between two buildings on Mason Avenue
During the live broadcast on NBC4, presenter Colleen Williams reconstructed what happened next, explaining that the station’s helicopter was in flight to document the bus accident, while the editorial team was preparing to launch the report when a tall column of smoke appeared on the screens. “We were getting ready to go on the air with that news and we see this big column of smoke and we realize something else has happened.” In fact, “A few blocks away, our helicopter fell and crashed.” «One person in the car park was killed and two people on board the helicopter also lost their lives. It’s just so hard to understand and accept.”
According to authorities, at least four cars and two storage containers on the ground went up in flames after the helicopter caught fire. There is currently no certainty about the causes of the crash. The images from above showed the Los Angeles firefighters working on a large fire that broke out immediately after the impact and spread to vehicles parked nearby. To shed light on what happened will be the National Transportation Safety Boardthe federal agency that investigates transportation accidents.
