Three Killed as NBC and Telemundo News Helicopter Crashes in Los Angeles

A news helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday in a Los Angeles neighborhood, killing at least three people while crews were covering a collision between an SUV and a city bus, officials and the news organizations said.

The helicopter, operated by NBC and Telemundo, crashed near a large storage facility in the Chatsworth neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. NBC4 Los Angeles anchor Colleen Williams confirmed during a live broadcast that two people were killed in the crash. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department later said at least one additional person was killed on the ground.

“We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, process it,” Williams said during the emotional broadcast before coverage was interrupted.

The helicopter had been covering an earlier traffic collision in which an SUV slammed into the middle of a city bus. At least two people were killed and six others were injured in that crash. Images and videos from the scene showed a large portion of the SUV lodged inside the bus.

Fire department spokesperson Capt. Branden Silverman said the helicopter was almost completely destroyed in the crash. Rescue crews were searching through the wreckage to determine how many people had been aboard and to identify the aircraft, saying they could not initially even locate its tail.

The crash also sparked fires on the ground, damaging at least four cars and two storage containers. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames.

NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik, who was covering the bus collision, said he saw black smoke and rushed toward the helicopter crash site. Dozens of police vehicles surrounded the area as ambulances arrived.

Fire department Battalion Chief Rico A. Gross said two people were taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Authorities had not immediately determined what caused the helicopter to crash or confirmed the total number of people aboard. Investigators were expected to examine the wreckage as they worked to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Source: AP