LOS ANGELES, Sept 16: A news helicopter operated by NBC4 Los Angeles crashed and burst into flames in the Chatsworth neighborhood on Tuesday evening, killing at least three people, officials said.
The helicopter went down shortly before 7 p.m. while television crews were covering a separate crash involving an SUV and a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus in the San Fernando Valley.
NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams confirmed the station’s helicopter had crashed during a live broadcast. The station’s coverage was briefly interrupted as the anchor and newsroom staff responded to the incident.
The aircraft crashed near a storage facility, where the impact and ensuing fire also damaged at least four vehicles and two storage containers. More than 50 firefighters responded, and the blaze was quickly brought under control, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Branden Silverman said at least one of the people killed was found in a parking lot beside the commercial building. Authorities were still working to determine whether the other victims were inside the helicopter or on the ground.
One person was transported to a hospital, although officials had not immediately released information about their condition. Silverman said the aircraft was “pretty well destroyed” and that emergency crews would continue searching through the wreckage to determine how many people were aboard.
The helicopter, identified by NBCLA as NewsChopper4, was operated by Angel City Air. Several television news helicopters had been covering the earlier bus crash when the aircraft went down roughly 1.6 kilometres from that scene.
The earlier collision occurred about two hours before the helicopter crash when an SUV slammed into the side of an MTA bus. The incident killed at least two people and injured six others, according to fire officials.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed condolences to those affected by both crashes and thanked emergency personnel responding to the incidents.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the helicopter crash. An investigator is expected to arrive at the scene on Wednesday as authorities work to establish what caused the aircraft to go down.