News Helicopter Crashes in LA, Killing Three

A news helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday evening while covering a deadly bus collision in Los Angeles, killing three people and injuring another, authorities said.

The helicopter came down near a storage building in the Chatsworth neighborhood, northwest of downtown Los Angeles, as news outlets rushed to cover a separate fatal accident in the area. An SUV had crashed into a city bus in Chatsworth, killing three people and injuring several others.

Reporters at the scene of the bus crash said they heard a loud bang and saw a helicopter go down roughly a block away. Other reports put the crash site about a mile, or 1.6 kilometers, from the bus collision.

Aerial footage showed a large fire involving vehicles and storage containers, with the wreckage of the helicopter visible among the flames. The mangled tail and rotor could be seen at the site.

The Los Angeles Fire Department dispatched dozens of firefighters, who quickly extinguished the fire. A department spokesperson said four patients were assessed at the scene, with three pronounced dead and one taken to a local hospital in unknown condition.

One of the victims appeared to have been a pedestrian on the ground when the helicopter crashed. Officials were initially unable to determine where the other two victims had been when they died.

“We’re trying to determine how many patients were inside the helicopter,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Branden Silverman said.

The helicopter was identified as NewsChopper4, operated by the local NBC4 affiliate. The station had been unable to contact its crew after the crash before veteran anchor Colleen Williams confirmed during live coverage that the aircraft belonged to the station.

“We knew it was a news chopper. We knew we’d lost contact with our people out there, and we’ve just received confirmation,” Williams said during an emotional broadcast.

The identities of those aboard the helicopter had not been immediately released.

The aircraft had been heading to cover the fatal collision involving the SUV and city bus when it crashed. The cause of the helicopter accident was not immediately known.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have launched investigations into the crash.

Los Angeles has a large and highly competitive television news market, and stations regularly use helicopters to provide aerial coverage of major incidents, including fires, crashes and police pursuits. News helicopters typically carry two people: a pilot and a reporter-camera operator who can provide live reports from the air.