Dispatch audio has captured the frantic response to the Los Angeles helicopter crash that killed NBC4 reporter Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw and a pedestrian.
Emergency services can be heard calling for multiple police and fire units after being told that a helicopter had collided with a structure. The dispatcher later clarified that the aircraft was a news helicopter as units were sent to the scene.
Officers then began closing streets around the crash site because of concerns about leaking fuel. The aircraft crashed at the intersection of Prairie Street and Lurline Avenue and caught fire, igniting multiple vehicles.
The helicopter had been covering an earlier fatal bus crash in the Chatsworth area, in which at least two other people died. NBC4 later confirmed on air that the aircraft belonged to the station.
Moreno and Marciniw were subsequently identified as the two people aboard the helicopter who died. The pedestrian killed in the crash has not been identified.
NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 said in a joint statement: “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”
The cause of the crash remains unclear. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation.
