Eliana Moreno, the aerial photojournalist who people in Los Angeles had listened to over the years on NBC4’s NewsChopper4, lost her life Tuesday evening in the crash of the NBC4 news helicopter that she was aboard during coverage of a deadly bus accident.
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the crash happened on Tuesday, September 15, at 6:57 p.m. on North Mason Avenue in Chatsworth, a part of San Fernando Valley. The helicopter crashed in a parking lot beside a storage center.
Four individuals died in the crash as the aircraft plunged into two office buildings and caught fire upon impact.
NBC4 Los Angeles had been on air at the time, and its staff informed its viewers that they had "lost contact" with their air team before identifying the aircraft.
It was determined that the victims included journalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the third person, who died as a pedestrian on the ground, as Edy Gutierrez Mejia, a 29-year-old man who died at a business parking lot.
Moreno, who worked at both Telemundo 52 and KNBC News 4, had been flying with Marciniw for the last three years. In his pilot instructor biography, he stated that he had more than 30 years of flight experience.
The helicopter, which belonged to NBC4 and their sister station Telemundo 52, was covering a different fatal accident in which an SUV and a Metro bus collided and caused two fatalities and some injuries to others.
This incident occurred almost two hours before the helicopter crash. It can be seen in the photos that appeared online that half of the SUV was crashed into the side of the bus.
Moreno had created her own image based on her work in the air. In her biography posted at the radio station, she was known to be an aerial photojournalist for both NBCLA and Telemundo 52 in addition to being a guest speaker at high schools and colleges in the area to encourage future journalists. Her Instagram page went by the name "Eli in the Heli," with pictures and videos taken from her news helicopters.
In July, Whiteman Airport thanked her for her brush fire coverage that helped in showing the spread and speed of the blaze, in addition to the efforts made to extinguish it.
Another one of her posts included a launch from Whiteman Airport to cover pursuits, fires, and river rescues.
In 2025, Moreno revealed her engagement to Robert Barrientos.
According to the Associated Press, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that they would investigate the cause of the crash.
The fire department said the wreckage was almost completelydestroyed,d with evidence being sorted out to confirm the passengers on board.
Word about the accident elicited numerous tributes directed to both the veteran reporter and the pilot of the aircraft. NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 released a joint statement after the identities of those who lost their lives were established.
Messages flooded social media as colleagues and the public at large said goodbye to a reporter, for whom Los Angeles was nothing more than a description from the air.
Photo: @Ethan Swope / AP
