Helicopter Crash Kills At Least 3 in Los Angeles Amid Bus Collision Coverage

A local news helicopter crashed in a Los Angeles neighborhood on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing at least three people while reporters were covering a separate crash, according to official reports. The incident occurred just before 7 p.m. in the San Fernando Valley community of Chatsworth (NPR).

As emergency personnel and news crews worked to document a severe motor vehicle collision that had transpired roughly two hours earlier involving an SUV and an MTA bus, the television news chopper plummeted near a storage building. The resulting fire consumed multiple vehicles and ground containers, prompting a massive emergency response from local fire authorities.

A Live Broadcast Interrupted by Disaster

The aircraft involved was identified as NewsChopper4, operated by Angel City Air, which had been airborne alongside other news helicopters reporting on the earlier bus crash (NPR). The crash site in Chatsworth sat about a mile and a half away from the initial bus collision.

During a live broadcast on NBC4 Los Angeles, anchor Colleen Williams confirmed the station’s chopper had gone down. Speaking with visible emotion, she told viewers, “We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, process it,” before their coverage abruptly cut off (NPR).

Branden Silverman stated during a news conference that at least one person killed in the helicopter crash was located outside in the parking lot next to the commercial storage building (NPR). Authorities noted that it remained unclear whether the other two fatalities were individuals on the ground or occupants of the aircraft.

Emergency Response and the Preceding Bus Collision

More than 50 firefighters rushed to the scene of the aviation disaster to combat the flames, which quickly engulfed at least four cars and two storage containers on the ground (NPR). One person was transported to a hospital, though their specific medical condition has not been publicly released.

Photo: npr.org

“We’re trying to determine how many patients were inside the helicopter,” Silverman said, describing the aircraft as “pretty well destroyed” while rescue teams began the difficult task of sorting through the rubble (NPR).

The disaster unfolded while emergency personnel were already managing a complex mass-casualty scene nearby. Approximately two hours before the aviation accident, an SUV crashed directly into the middle of a city bus, leaving at least two people dead and six others injured (NPR). Online images and video footage from the scene showed roughly half of the SUV wedged into the side of the MTA vehicle.

Federal Investigation and Official Reactions

California Governor Gavin Newsom shared a message on X stating that “our hearts are with the victims and families” while thanking the first responders handling both concurrent disaster sites (NPR).

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration said they would be investigating the cause of the helicopter crash, with federal investigators scheduled to arrive at the scene (NPR).

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