Three lives cut short in Los Angeles helicopter crash
Qwenews.com – A television news helicopter crash in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening left three people dead, including an aerial journalist, a longtime pilot nearing retirement and a tourist who had only arrived in the city hours earlier.
The Eurocopter AS350 had been covering a deadly bus crash in Chatsworth, an area roughly 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, when it went down in a commercial parking lot. The aircraft was operated by Angel City Air for NBC4 and Telemundo 52.
Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, the helicopter’s news crew, were killed in the crash. Edy Gutierrez Mejia, a young visitor from Guatemala, was fatally struck after the helicopter came down. Officials said at least two other people were hospitalized with injuries.
Federal investigators are examining the wreckage. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and expects to release an initial report within 30 days. A final finding on the likely cause may take as long as 18 months.
Video captured from the aircraft during its descent appears to include engine-power loss and an alarm associated with slowing main rotor blades. The cause has not been determined.
Eliana Moreno built a career above the city
Moreno had spent years bringing viewers a perspective few reporters experience: the view from a helicopter over Los Angeles. Her colleague Lynette Romero said Moreno had wanted a reporting career from an early age.
“She was just such a light, such a spark plug,” Romero said. “She’s teeny-tiny but she had the biggest heart and enthusiasm, it was really contagious.”
Born in Orange County, Moreno graduated from Chapman University in 2010 with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. She joined Angel City Air in September of that year and later worked on coverage for several regional news outlets.
In 2023, she received the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California’s award for Best TV Continuing Coverage. Her work routinely placed her above major breaking-news scenes, including brush fires, shootings and police pursuits.
Using the social-media name “eli_in_the_heli,” Moreno shared the technical and reporting demands of aerial journalism. She described operating the camera mounted at the front of the helicopter while narrating events below as the pilot maneuvered the aircraft over the city.
Friends and colleagues remembered someone with deep enthusiasm for both her work and the mechanics that made it possible. Romero recalled visiting the helicopter with a team for a behind-the-scenes look, saying Moreno was eager to explain the equipment and how the aircraft functioned.
“She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew how to express it to our viewers,” Romero said.
Outside work, Moreno loved animals, running and line dancing. She had dogs and chickens and described herself online as a dog and chicken mom. In May, she celebrated finishing a half-marathon in less than two hours with her fiancé despite having asthma.
Moreno was engaged to be married. A video from an October trip to Tennessee showed her ring and included a message that she would remember the trip for the rest of her life. Her family, Romero said, was proud to see her reporting in the community where she grew up.
George Marciniw was preparing for retirement
Marciniw was a veteran pilot who had flown with Moreno since 2023. Together, they formed a familiar aerial news team, working closely on stories and sharing images from their assignments over the years.
He had been looking ahead to retirement after a long aviation career. Instead, coworkers and loved ones are confronting the loss of a pilot whose experience was central to the demanding work of newsgathering from the air.
Aerial crews often respond quickly to fast-moving emergencies, providing broad views of traffic incidents, wildfires and public-safety events. The work requires close coordination between the pilot and journalist, particularly in a sprawling region where major stories can unfold many miles apart.
Before the station confirmed that its own helicopter had crashed, anchor Colleen Williams said contact with the crew had been lost. She paused the live broadcast as the seriousness of the situation became clear.
“We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, to process and to regroup,” Williams said.
Edy Gutierrez Mejia had just arrived in Los Angeles
Gutierrez Mejia’s visit to Los Angeles had only begun when the crash changed the course of the day. The young Guatemalan tourist had arrived in the city just hours before the helicopter struck the business parking lot where he was located.
His death adds another layer of grief to an event that began as coverage of one fatal collision and became a second tragedy. While Moreno and Marciniw were working in the air, Gutierrez Mejia was on the ground in a place where people would not expect to face such danger.
The investigation will focus on the aircraft, its operation and the events leading up to the impact. For the families, friends and colleagues of all three victims, the immediate reality is far more personal: plans for a wedding, retirement and travel were suddenly replaced by mourning.
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