LOS ANGELES — A news helicopter belonging to NBC Los Angeles crashed and erupted in flames Tuesday evening while broadcasting live footage of a deadly Metro bus collision, killing three people and sending a fourth to the hospital, officials said.
The aircraft went down around 6:57 p.m. in a parking lot between commercial buildings in the 9100 block of North Mason Avenue in Chatsworth, in the northwest San Fernando Valley. Los Angeles Fire Department crews found the helicopter “pretty well destroyed,” with flames spreading to four vehicles and two storage containers. Fifty-six firefighters extinguished the blaze. No buildings were damaged.
At least one of the dead was a pedestrian on the ground at the time of impact, Fire Capt. Branden Silverman said at the scene. Authorities have not released the identities of the victims or confirmed how many people were aboard the helicopter. NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams, visibly emotional on air, told viewers the station had “lost contact” with its crew.
The helicopter crash came less than two hours after a separate tragedy nearby. Around 5:03 p.m., an SUV slammed into a Metro Line 166 bus near Nordhoff Street and De Soto Avenue. Two people were killed, and six others were injured; firefighters had to extricate trapped passengers from the bus. Multiple news helicopters, including KNBC’s, were circling the scene when the second disaster unfolded.
Live video captured from the KNBC helicopter showed the intersection below: an orange Metro bus and a wrecked passenger vehicle, police tape, emergency vehicles, and bystanders. The camera then panned and tilted sharply over rooftops and streets before the feed blurred and cut to black, the moment the aircraft went down.
Witnesses described a fireball on impact. Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are taking the lead. The helicopter was operating in uncontrolled airspace and was not required to be in contact with air traffic control, an aviation expert told local stations. The cause remains unknown.
This is a developing story. Authorities have not released names of the dead or the condition of the hospitalized victim.
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