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Deadly news chopper crash: Live video 'most important evidence,' NTSB says

Read the original at ABC News (US) ↗
Cite

Ali, A., & Shapiro, E. (2026, September 17). Deadly news chopper crash: Live video 'most important evidence,' NTSB says. ABC News (US). https://abcnews.com/US/deadly-la-news-chopper-crash-live-video-important/story?id=136526181

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

ABC News (US) · collected 2026-09-17 · by Ayesha Ali, Emily Shapiro

Quick Summary

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has identified live video footage from an NBC Los Angeles news helicopter as crucial evidence in investigating the fatal crash that occurred in Chatsworth on Tuesday evening, which killed three people including reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. The NTSB investigator-in-charge Fabian Salazar stated that the recording will undergo sound spectrum analysis to identify engine sounds and advisory tones. The crash happened while several news helicopters were covering a separate deadly collision involving a Metro bus and an SUV earlier in the day, which resulted in two fatalities and multiple injuries.
Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Tuesday evening, a news helicopter providing aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 in Los Angeles crashed, resulting in three deaths including reporter Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw, and pedestrian Edy Gutierrez Mejia. The helicopter was covering the scene of an earlier fatal bus crash involving an SUV, which killed two people and injured several others. Witnesses reported seeing the helicopter explode upon impact; it had been providing live coverage between 5pm and 7pm local time, when it went down in the Chatsworth area of San Fernando Valley. NBC4 confirmed that Moreno and Marciniw were colleagues who had worked together since 2023, flying "hundreds of hours" during their tenure. The helicopter model involved, a Eurocopter AS 350 B2 Ecureuil, has been linked to at least six fatal accidents this year globally.

Written for “Los Angeles Helicopter Crash” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 24 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Los Angeles Helicopter Crash
Crime & Law · 25 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

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This article reads unscored and hedges 33% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
33%
4 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
70/100
ABC News (US)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
25
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (US) · 1270 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Ayesha Ali
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2026-09-17 · mixed framing · Deadly news chopper crash: Live video 'most important evidence,' NTSB says
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Emily Shapiro
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All 7 articles by Emily Shapiro →

Topics

Chatsworth Los Angeles NBC NBC Los Angeles NTSB

Subjects

Los Angeles GPE · 3× NTSB ORG · 3× Chatsworth GPE · 2× Marciniw PERSON · 2× Moreno PERSON · 2× NBC ORG · 2× NBC Los Angeles ORG · 2× Eliana Moreno PERSON · 1× Fabian Salazar PERSON · 1× the National Transportation Safety Board ORG · 1×

Narrative

"What we are going to do is get a pristine copy of that recording and send it to our recorder's lab for a sound spectrum analysis, because in that recording, we are clearly hearing sounds that are consistent with the engine changing its speed," Salazar said.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
🔮 A vigil will be held in Chatsworth on Thursday evening, according to NBC Los Angeles.
2026-09-20 · ABC News (US)
Deadly news chopper crash: Live video 'most important evidence,' NTSB says · mixed framing

Claims (12 extracted, 4 hedged)

Deadly LA news chopper crash: Live video 'most important evidence,' NTSB says A reporter, a pilot and one person on the ground were killed in the crash. Live video taken from a Los Angeles TV news helicopter just before it crashed is among the "most important evidence" investigators have as they work to determine the cause of the deadly incident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB investigator-in-charge Fabian Salazar told reporters Wednesday that the live video feed from NBC Los Angeles helicopter reporter Eliana Moreno and her pilot George Marciniw "is probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far." The final moments of the broadcast from inside the chopper show the helicopter shaking as alarms begin to sound. uncertain
alarms → say → chopper
They start to fall and a voice asks, "You can't pull up?" before the feed is cut off. asserted
feed → start → ?
"What we are going to do is get a pristine copy of that recording and send it to our recorder's lab for a sound spectrum analysis, because in that recording, we are clearly hearing sounds that are consistent with the engine changing its speed," Salazar said. asserted
Salazar → go → speed
"We're also hearing tones that are being generated that are likely advisories to the pilots. asserted
that → hear → pilots
" Moreno, Marciniw, and a person on the ground, 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia, were all killed when the news chopper crashed between two commercial buildings in Chatsworth on Tuesday evening, officials said. asserted
officials → kill → evening
A fourth person was taken to a hospital, officials said. asserted
officials → take → hospital
NBC Los Angeles said Moreno and Marciniw "logged hundreds of hours together in the sky" on stories including the January 2025 wildfires. asserted
Moreno → say → wildfires
The NBC Los Angeles helicopter was among several news choppers in the area at the time covering a deadly collision between a Metro bus and an SUV that unfolded about two hours earlier. asserted
that → cover → bus
The bus and SUV crash left two people dead and several others injured, authorities said. asserted
authorities → leave → people
The SUV driver, Bailee Lynn Rios, is being held on suspicion of murder for her alleged role in the bus crash, according to police. uncertain
driver → hold → police
A vigil will be held in Chatsworth on Thursday evening, according to NBC Los Angeles. uncertain
vigil → hold → Angeles
The NTSB said it will release its preliminary report on the chopper crash in 30 days, adding that a final report with a cause could take up to 18 months. uncertain
report → say → months
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