CHATSWORTH, CALIF. — A news helicopter covering a deadly collision between a sports utility vehicle and a Los Angeles Metro Bus crashed into an industrial area of the Northern San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles early Tuesday evening, resulting in the death of an aerial reporter covering the scene for the NBCUniversal Local television stations serving Southern California and two others.
Eliana Moreno was offering coverage of the major traffic accident in the area, attracting news helicopters from various television stations. Approximately two hours after the bus accident, tragedy struck NewsChopper 4 just before the 7pm Pacific newscast was to begin.
Moreno lost her life, as did pilot George Marciniw and a third unidentified individual. A fourth individual was hospitalized, KNBC-4 reported. The helicopter crashed into a warehouse district on Mason Avenue, between Nordhoff and Prairie just east of the Aerojet Rocketdyne facility and within several yards of the Amtrak and Metrolink train line. The crash resulted in a fire, damaging four cars and two storage containers in the area, KNBC-4 said.
“My husband’s in law enforcement,” one woman told KNBC-4 and KVEA-52. “He said the helicopter is looking strange. We noticed that it was swaying. Five seconds later… we saw large smoke.”
On Wednesday morning, KNBC-4’s 4am local newscast began with a cold open, with the show’s three anchors paying tribute to Moreno, who offered reports from NewsChopper 4 as an employee of Angel City Air.
Moreno, a bilingual news reporter, offered English-language reports for KNBC-4 and Spanish-language reports for KVEA “Telemundo 52” in Los Angeles through a contract between Angel City Air and NBCUniversal Local. She has appeared on numerous Los Angeles television stations since joining Angel City in September 2010, following her graduation from Chapman University.
Marciniw, a veteran helicopter pilot, had been flying with Moreno since 2023. He is approximately 70 years of age and was piloting a Eurocopter AS 350 B2 helicopter.
In a statement, KNBC-TV and KVEA-TV said, “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. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom also offered statements expressing their condolences to the families of those lost in the helicopter crash, and to those in the Metro Bus incident Moreno and Marciniw were covering.
In that incident, near the intersection of Nordhoff and De Soto in Chatsworth, three people died and six were injured when a SUV and bus collided, with the vehicle ending up partially inside the bus.
— With reports from RBR+TVBR in Porter Ranch, Northridge, and Santa Clarita, Calif.
