Three people were killed when a helicopter used by a Los Angeles television station crashed while covering a news story there.
The crash occurred around 7 p.m. local time (10 p.m. Eastern Time) in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in northwestern Los Angeles.
Pilot George Maciniw and journalist Eliana Moreno were on board the helicopter at the time of the incident. Both were employed by Angel City Air, which provides aerial news gathering services to KNBC-TV (Channel 4) and KVEA (Channel 52, Telemundo).
Watch the initial moments when KNBC-TV learned a news helicopter crashed in a suburban Los Angeles neighborhood. At the time, its news team did not know that the helicopter belonged to their station. [Video: KNBC]
— TheDesk.net (@TheDeskDotNet) September 16, 2026
Full story: https://t.co/TLTWVy5eUx pic.twitter.com/C7STw2XvrG
The helicopter was in the air for about an hour, covering a fatal collision involving a Los Angeles municipal bus and a sports utility vehicle, when the aircraft experienced some kind of mechanical issue.
Video footage reviewed by The Desk revealed multiple alarms sounded in the helicopter about 10 seconds before it plummeted to the ground. Maciniw and Moreno were killed in the crash, as was an unidentified pedestrian who was on the ground, according to local officials.
KNBC confirmed its helicopter was involved in the crash in a statement broadcast around 9 p.m. local time; two hours later, the news outlet affirmed Maciniw and Moreno were on board the aircraft.
The last few minutes of KNBC-TV's helicopter flight was captured on live video transmissions sent back to the station. These were the final moments of that flight; conditions of those on board still unknown.
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) September 16, 2026
Details here: https://t.co/CHA5cIVhEe pic.twitter.com/6mIST13BzK
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) are investigating the incident.
“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,” officials at KNBC and KVEA said in a statement. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”
On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom released a statement of condolences to the victims of the bus and helicopter crashes.
“Our hearts are with the victims and families of tonight’s devastating Metro bus and helicopter crashes in Chatsworth, and with the entire NBC4 family,” Newsom wrote on social media. “Thank you to the first responders working tirelessly tonight.”
Once common in the local television industry, news helicopters have been phased out in some smaller and medium-sized markets as costs to maintain a full-time pilot, photojournalist and mechanic can exceed more than $100,000 per month.
News helicopters are more common in major markets like Los Angeles and New York, where local TV stations either pool resources to provide aerial news coverage or have larger budgets to maintain them.
Helicopter used by news organizations are heavily regulated by strict rules, including requirements involving annual maintenance and preflight safety checks, according to one aviation expert who spoke with The Desk late Tuesday evening. Aircraft used by news organizations in California are also bound by state labor laws that limit the number of hours a pilot can fly.
The crash involving KNBC’s helicopter is the deadliest incident involving a newsgathering aircraft in three years. In December 2023, a news helicopter used by Philadelphia TV station WPVI (Channel 6, ABC) crashed while returning from a news story in New Jersey.
In Los Angeles, an aircraft used by KTLA (Channel 5) made an unscheduled landing in a parking lot after another pilot spotted white smoke coming from its engine bay. The cause of the smoke was determined to be a clogged oil line; no one was hurt in that incident.
KNBC and KVEA are part of NBC Universal, which is owned by Comcast.
