LOS ANGELES (Diya TV) — Three people were killed Tuesday evening when a news helicopter covering a deadly Metro bus crash went down in Chatsworth.
The helicopter crashed shortly before 7 p.m. near 9151 N. Mason Ave. and caught fire, damaging four vehicles and two storage containers. One person was taken to a hospital, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The two people aboard were identified as aerial photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. Both worked for Angel City Air, which owned and operated the helicopter. A third person killed on the ground has not been publicly identified.
The crew had been covering a collision involving a Los Angeles Metro bus and an SUV near Nordhoff Street and De Soto Avenue. Metro said three people died and six others were hospitalized in that crash.
The helicopter launched from a nearby airport around 5:20 p.m. and lost its signal shortly before 7 p.m. Witnesses said the aircraft appeared to sway and lose altitude before crashing in a commercial parking lot.
Moreno, an Orange County native and Chapman University graduate, joined Angel City Air in 2010 and worked in aerial news coverage across Southern California. Marciniw was a longtime pilot and flight instructor with decades of aviation experience.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash of the Eurocopter AS350 B2, with the Federal Aviation Administration also involved. The cause of the crash has not been determined.
