UPDATE: The pedestrian killed when NBC4’s NewsChopper4 crashed in Chatsworth on Tuesday has been identified as 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia, NBC Los Angeles reported, citing the county medical examiner.
NBC4 aerial photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw were also killed when the helicopter went down while covering a nearby collision involving an SUV and a Metro bus. Two people were killed in that initial collision, bringing the combined death toll from the two crashes to five.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the helicopter crash. NTSB investigator Fabian Salazar said Wednesday that video recorded aboard the aircraft was “probably the most important evidence” investigators had uncovered so far. No cause has been determined.
“We can now confirm that the news helicopter that went down in Chatsworth tonight, about two hours ago, was in fact NewsChopper4,” Colleen Williams told viewers live on air. “We’ve been telling you that we’ve been piecing it together here. We knew it was a news chopper. We knew we lost contact with our people out there. And we just received the confirmation that, in fact, NewsChopper4 went down just before 7 o’clock tonight in Chatsworth.”
PREVIOUS: A news helicopter crashed down on the job in Los Angeles Tuesday evening, leaving at least three individuals dead.
The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed to multiple media outlets that emergency personnel were responding to a helicopter downed in Chatsworth, Calif. Tuesday night. The crash occurred just before 7 p.m., with the reported news helicopter going down between two commercial buildings. The cause of the crash is currently unclear, as well as which news station the aircraft in question belonged to.
Earlier on Tuesday, multiple news choppers had been covering a collision involving a Metro bus. Following word of the crash, anchors for NBC4 shared during their Tuesday night broadcast that they were unable to get in contact with their station’s helicopter.
“We do have one confirmed patient that seemed to be outside of the helicopter when it crashed,” LAFD Captain Branden Silverman said in a statement to media. “That person was declared deceased on scene. … At this point, we have not confirmed how many victims, or how many people, were inside the helicopter.”
Following Silverman’s statement, LAFD issued an update, confirming that “three patients have been determined deceased on scene.”
“56 firefighters responded to the incident. The fire has been completely extinguished,” the LAFD statement read. “No exposure to any structures. 4 automobiles and 2 storage containers have been damaged by the fire. Four patients have been assessed. Three patients have been determined deceased on scene. One patient has been transported to a local hospital in unknown condition.”
Additionally, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Bureau told NBC News that the federal agency was gathering information regarding the crash and will soon decide whether to send investigators.
In response to Tuesday’s tragedy, Mayor Karen Bass wrote on X, “I’m absolutely devastated by the loss of life in Chatsworth tonight. My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash.”
She added: “I’m grateful to the City teams who responded so quickly. Please stay clear of the area as public safety officials remain on scene.”
