Tragic Helicopter Crash in Los Angeles
Dashcam footage from a driver in Los Angeles recorded a news helicopter from NBC and Telemundo plummeting to the ground just moments before a catastrophic crash that claimed three lives.
The driver, Year Valencia, witnessed the helicopter descend rapidly on Tuesday while its crew was covering an earlier, fatal accident involving an SUV and a city bus.
“I downloaded the dashcam footage. It’s a small dot in the video, but it shows everything so clearly as it just goes down,” Valencia shared with KTLA, which acquired the video. “It’s chilling to think how close it was. My parents walk on that street, you know?”
Victims of the Deadly Crash Identified
The crash occurred in Chatsworth, located in the San Fernando Valley, resulting in the deaths of Eliana Moreno, a reporter for NBC4 and Telemundo 52, pilot George Marciniw, and Edy Gutierrez Mejia, a 29-year-old who was on the ground at the time.
The helicopter went down near a storage facility and ignited a fire that spread to at least four vehicles and two storage containers.
Witnesses reported seeing the helicopter crash not long after the SUV incident that left two others dead and injured six, which happened earlier that evening. Authorities stated that the SUV had been driving the wrong way, ran a red light, and collided with another vehicle before slamming into the bus.
Driver Arrested in Connection with Prior Collision
Police took the SUV’s driver, 36-year-old Bailee Lynn Rios, into custody on murder charges following the earlier incident. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing the case for potential charges.
As of Wednesday, the investigation into the helicopter crash is ongoing. Footage from the helicopter prior to its descent revealed an alarm sounding as it began to lose altitude.
Fabian Salazar, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, noted that the helicopter’s final video could be critical for understanding the circumstances leading to the crash. He mentioned that the audio captured could align with changes in the engine’s performance and possible cockpit alerts.
The helicopter, a Eurocopter AS350 operated by Angel City Air, was employed for aerial news reporting by NBC4 and Telemundo 52. The NTSB is looking into both the helicopter incident and the earlier bus collision.
