KNBC Add Jalopnik on Google: Google Discover An SUV slammed into the side of an LA Metro bus on Tuesday, killing at least two people and injuring six. The tragedy was compounded when a news helicopter crashed near the scene of the collision, killing pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno on board, as well as a person on the ground. KNBC confirmed that the crashed helicopter was the station's NewsChopper4. The live footage of the rotorcraft going down is harrowing, but it's unclear why it crashed. NewsChopper4 was owned and operated by Angel City Air, a "self-described full-service aerial production company," providing aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52. The helicopter's feed was being broadcast when it crashed. During an aerial shot of the bus crash, you can hear the engine failure alarm go off. Marciniw blurted out, "F*ck!" as the engine spooled down, and Moreno replied, "What, you can't pull up?" The helicopter essentially fell out of the sky, with the feed cutting out before impact. News anchors often cover tragedies, but not often involving their colleagues Lpettet/Getty Images Los Angeles Fire Department said that the news helicopter came down between two commercial buildings, erupting into a fireball. The resulting blaze damaged four cars and two storage containers. Authorities haven't revealed the identity of the person killed on the ground or the two others who were hospitalized. As an onlooker, this incident was emotionally devastating. I can't imagine what it was like in the newsroom. According to the Beast Daily, NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams said on air, "We knew it was a news chopper. We knew we'd lost contact with our people out there, and we've just received confirmation." Helicopters always make me uneasy. While planes can glide when they lose engine power, rotorcraft pilots can only pray that the blades auto-rotate. Otherwise, there's no hope. A Bell 206L4 sightseeing helicopter crashed in the Hudson River last year, killing a Spanish rail executive, his wife and their three children. Investigators later concluded that multiple bird strikes caused the crash. You could have a perfectly functional helicopter and everything could still go wrong.
