What started as a normal day in the neighborhood of Chatsworth in Los Angeles turned violent when an SUV collided with a metro bus around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The crash took place at the intersection of West Nordhoff Street, where two people were pronounced dead; six others were hospitalized.
As news outlets covered the incident, a local news helicopter that was reporting from above ground crashed two hours later that evening. The crash claimed the lives of the pilot, George Marcinaw and the aerial reporter, Eliana Moreno, as well as a pedestrian named Edy Gutierrez Mejia, who was visiting from Guatemala.
According to the New York Post, firefighters and police officers responded to the helicopter crash a few blocks away from the metro incident in a parking lot near a self-storage facility on North Mason Avenue. The accident caused four cars and two storage containers to burst into flames. NBC4 Los Angeles later confirmed that it was their news chopper. NBC4 and Telemundo 52 both released a statement mourning those killed in the helicopter crash.
“We are deeply saddened to share that a helicopter providing aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 was involved in a fatal accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening,” NBC4 said. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”
Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass arrived at the scene shortly after 9 p.m. and held a brief conference addressing the events.
“This is a heartbreaking night for our city and my thoughts and prayers are first and foremost with the families and loved ones,” said Bass. “Our hearts are with those that were impacted by the bus collision, the helicopter crash, and the entire community who lost members of their team while they were doing their job.”
A woman named Bailee Lynn Rios was arrested and booked earlier Wednesday morning for the violent crash that involved the SUV and the Metro bus, with her bond set at $4 million.
A press conference was held in Chatsworth early Wednesday afternoon where Senior Safety Investigative reporter for the National Transportation Safety Board Fabian Salazar gave an update on where the investigation leads following Tuesday night’s tragedy.
“We are doing the field portion of the investigation that is being on the accident scene and gathering as much factual data as we can. From there we’ll have the helicopter removed to a secured facility where we will continue to examine and pull factual data from that wreckage”, said Salazar. “Together with the maintenance books, weather and the pilot’s training, this will help us with the factual data gathering.”
For the NTSB, the footage of the NBC4 helicopter moments before the crash will be the “most important evidence to analyze” to piece together the probable cause of the accident. Salazar added that the agency will work to obtain a pristine copy of that recording and send it to the agency’s lab for a sound spectrum analysis.
A candlelight vigil is scheduled to take place this evening to honor the lives of the five people who were killed this week.
The SUV and metro bus crash remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. For more coverage on these incidents, visit our Instagram or TikTok page.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed Chatsworth as a city. The issue was corrected on Sept. 21, 2026.
