LOS ANGELES, United States – Three people were killed when a news helicopter operated for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 crashed in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening while television crews were covering a nearby fatal collision involving a Metro bus.
The helicopter went down shortly before 7 p.m. in the Chatsworth neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley, between commercial buildings in the 9100 block of North Mason Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The aircraft caught fire after the crash, damaging several vehicles and storage containers.
NBC4 confirmed that its NewsChopper4, operated by Angel City Air, was the helicopter involved. The station and Telemundo 52 said the aircraft had been providing aerial coverage when the fatal accident occurred.
The cause of the crash has not been established.
Helicopter crashes near the earlier bus collision
The helicopter was in the area because multiple television crews were covering an earlier collision involving a Metro bus and another vehicle.
That crash occurred shortly after 5 p.m. near Nordhoff Street and De Soto Avenue, roughly a short distance from where the helicopter later went down. Los Angeles authorities initially reported two deaths and several injuries from the bus collision; subsequent local reporting said the death toll from that incident reached three.
Firefighters were initially sent to the bus crash to rescue people trapped in the vehicles and assess passengers.
While news helicopters remained over the area, the second crash occurred.
The helicopter fell between commercial buildings on North Mason Avenue and ignited a fire. Los Angeles firefighters responded with a large emergency deployment, extinguishing the blaze and searching the wreckage.
Three people killed in helicopter crash
Los Angeles firefighters confirmed three fatalities from the helicopter crash.
NBC4 later confirmed that two members of its helicopter crew were among those killed. A third person on the ground also died. The identities of the other victims were not immediately released by authorities.
One additional person was taken to a hospital after the crash. Authorities initially said they were still determining how many people had been aboard the helicopter and working through the heavily damaged wreckage.
The fire also damaged four vehicles and two storage containers, according to officials.
Investigation into cause begins
The circumstances that caused the helicopter to crash remain unknown.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the accident. The NTSB is expected to lead the investigation, with investigators examining the aircraft, flight path, operating conditions and other factors that could have contributed to the crash.
No official finding has been released on whether mechanical problems, weather, pilot actions or another factor played a role.
At this stage, any explanation for why the helicopter went down would be premature.
Loss reverberates through Los Angeles newsrooms
The crash struck a television news operation while it was actively covering another major breaking-news event.
NBC4 journalists were reporting from the area when the station lost contact with its helicopter crew. The station later confirmed during its live coverage that NewsChopper4 had crashed and that members of its team had died.
News helicopters are routinely used by Los Angeles television stations to provide aerial images of fires, crashes, police activity and other breaking events. The incident therefore affected not only the NBC4 and Telemundo teams but also other journalists working around the same emergency scene.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed condolences to the victims and their families as emergency crews continued working at both crash sites.
The investigation will now determine what happened to the helicopter before it reached the ground. Until investigators establish the cause, the sequence of events leading to the crash remains under examination.
Reporting Credit: Los Angeles Fire Department — emergency response, crash location and casualties; Los Angeles Police Department — initial information concerning the nearby bus collision; National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration — aviation accident investigation; NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 — confirmation of the helicopter’s news operation and crew losses.
