In the United States, a news helicopter crashed in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, killing three people while covering a separate fatal bus collision, officials said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said the aircraft went down in a commercial parking area on the 9100 block of North Mason Avenue and burst into flames; Captain Branden Silverman told reporters one person on the ground and two people aboard the helicopter died, and two others were taken to hospital, according to CNN and Sky News.
Sky News reported NBC Los Angeles identified aerial photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw as two of the victims, and said the aircraft was operated by Angel City Air, an aerial production company affiliated with the station.
The crash occurred after an earlier SUV-and-bus collision about 1.6km away on Nordhoff Street that killed two people, Sky News said, and more than 70 firefighters responded to the helicopter fire before it was extinguished.
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the cause of the crash, Sky News reported, and officials said teams would search the rubble to determine how many people were aboard and to recover evidence.
Local officials including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom issued statements expressing condolences and thanking emergency crews, Sky News reported.
This incident adds to the day’s deadly events in the United States and follows other travel disruptions reported earlier in the month; readers can see a broader roundup of national developments in the site’s United States: Latest national news and key political developments and coverage of transport disruptions in Flight cancellations and delays disrupt U.S. travel.
Sources
- CNN — reported the crash killed at least three and that two others were taken to hospital.
- Sky News — provided location (Chatsworth), identities named by NBC Los Angeles, and that the NTSB will lead the investigation.
