L.A. Helicopter Crash: NTSB Says One Discovery May Be the Key to What Went Wrong

NBC4's helicopter crew was covering a crash in Chatsworth when their own routine assignment suddenly turned fatal. Now investigators say 1 unexpected piece of evidence may help explain what changed in those final moments.

The NTSB has not announced a cause. But officials have already singled out 1 discovery as especially important.

It Was Supposed to Be a Normal Assignment

Reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw had spent years covering Southern California from the air. They had flown together since 2023, reporting on police pursuits, wildfires, and other major breaking-news events. Both were longtime members of the local news community. Moreno had worked aboard news helicopters since 2010, while Marciniw had decades of aviation experience and had also worked as a flight instructor.

On September 15, they were covering the aftermath of a collision involving an SUV and a Metro bus in Chatsworth. The helicopter was hovering over the scene when something appeared to go wrong.

Witnesses later described seeing the aircraft moving unusually before it began to descend. Moments later, NewsChopper4 crashed near commercial buildings on Mason Avenue.

For Moreno and Marciniw, what began as a routine news assignment became their last. But the tragedy did not end in the air: when NewsChopper4 came down, 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia was also killed on the ground after simply being in the area when the helicopter crashed.

Then Investigators Realized Something Was Missing

The NTSB began examining the wreckage, maintenance records, weather conditions, and witness accounts. Investigators also started searching for recordings that could help reconstruct the helicopter's final moments.

But the aircraft may not have carried the type of onboard recorder people often associate with major aviation investigations. NTSB Investigator-in-Charge Fabian Salazar said he was not aware of a recorder aboard, though investigators had not finished examining the wreckage.

Light helicopters like the AS350 are generally not required to carry flight data recorders. That could have left investigators with fewer direct clues about what happened inside the aircraft.

That absence could have left investigators with a major blind spot. Instead, the nature of the crew’s work meant something else had been capturing those crucial final moments.

The Clue Had Been There All Along

The helicopter's camera and audio were running while Moreno and Marciniw covered the scene below. That meant the broadcast continued to capture what was happening as the aircraft's own emergency began.

When investigators reviewed the material, they realized it could provide far more than a visual record of the crash. Salazar called it "the most important piece of evidence" discovered so far. What investigators heard on that recording is now central to the investigation.

The NTSB now wants a "pristine copy" of the original recording for further analysis, according to reporting on the investigation. The agency plans to send it to its recorder laboratory, where specialists can study the sound in detail.

For investigators, that recording may partly fill the gap left by the apparent absence of a flight recorder. The crew's own broadcast could now help explain what was happening aboard the helicopter.

Investigators Heard Something They Couldn’t Ignore

The audio appears to capture more than voices. Investigators say there are sounds that may indicate changes inside the aircraft shortly before it descended.

"In that recording, we are clearly hearing sounds that are consistent with the engine changing its speed, and we're also hearing tones that are being generated that are likely advisories to the pilot," Salazar said.

The NTSB has not said those sounds prove what caused the crash. But they could help investigators establish when the problem began and what warnings Marciniw may have received.

That timing could be especially important because the helicopter had been hovering at relatively low altitude. If something failed suddenly, there may have been very little time to react.

The Helicopter Was in the Worst Possible Position

Former NTSB and FAA investigator Jeff Guzzetti said the aircraft's position may be another significant part of the investigation. Helicopter pilots sometimes refer to the combination of low altitude and little forward movement as a "dead man's curve."

"That's the worst place to be if you have a problem," Guzzetti said. In simple terms, altitude and forward movement can give a pilot more options during an emergency. A helicopter hovering relatively low may have less room to recover if something suddenly goes wrong.

That does not explain what caused the issue aboard NewsChopper4. It may simply help explain why events unfolded so quickly once the emergency began.

The First Answers Only Raised More Questions

Aviation experts who have heard the available recording have said the sounds could be consistent with an engine losing power and a rotor warning activating. Those interpretations have helped focus attention on the final seconds before the descent.

But they remain preliminary. The NTSB has not announced a cause, and investigators still have to determine what produced those sounds.

The recording can show investigators the moment something went wrong. It just can't tell them why.

Investigators Are Looking for Answers Inside the Aircraft

NewsChopper4 was a Eurocopter AS350 B2, a single-engine helicopter widely used for news-gathering and other work. Previous fatal accidents involving the model include a 2014 crash involving Seattle station KOMO-TV and the 2018 East River helicopter crash in New York. The aircraft's broader accident history will likely be considered alongside evidence from this aircraft.

But the history of a helicopter model cannot explain what happened in Chatsworth. Investigators will instead examine NewsChopper4's maintenance, mechanical condition, and systems.

For now, nothing has established that the aircraft model itself was responsible. The final answer will have to come from evidence specific to this crash.

The Tragedy Had Another Story

But understanding what happened to the aircraft is only 1 part of this story. There was another victim whose story received far less attention.

Much of the attention has focused on Moreno and Marciniw because viewers knew their work. But the crash claimed a third life. Edy Gutierrez Mejia, 29, was not part of the news crew. He happened to be on the ground when the helicopter came down.

Gutierrez Mejia had reportedly arrived in Los Angeles that Tuesday to meet a cousin and help pick up several vehicles that were supposed to be taken back to Guatemala. He was married and the oldest of 3 children.

His family is now working to return his body home, according to details shared after he was identified. His death adds another painful part to a tragedy that had already shaken the NBC4 newsroom.

The Final Moments Were Not the End of the Story

In the hours after the crash, the crew's final broadcast drew attention because it captured the sudden moment when a normal assignment turned into an emergency. Earlier coverage focused on the brief sounds and exchange heard before the transmission ended.

Now investigators are looking at that same material differently. It is not only a record of Moreno and Marciniw's final moments — it may also contain some of the clearest evidence of what was happening to the helicopter.

That is why the NTSB wants the original recording rather than relying on copies circulating online. Even small details in the audio could help establish the order in which things happened.

One Mystery Still Sits at the Center of the Crash

The investigation is still in its early stages, and a final cause may take months to determine. Investigators need to compare the recording with the wreckage, maintenance history, witness accounts, and other evidence.

Until that work is finished, theories about what happened remain preliminary. But Salazar has already made clear which discovery investigators consider especially valuable.

It was not something discovered deep inside the wreckage. It was the news coverage Moreno and Marciniw themselves were producing.

They went into the air that afternoon to document another breaking-news story. In the end, their final broadcast may become one of the most important pieces of evidence in understanding what happened to them.

That also gives the recording a meaning far beyond a routine piece of newsroom footage. What began as coverage intended for viewers may now help investigators reconstruct the final sequence of events with a level of detail they might not otherwise have had.

For Moreno and Marciniw, the camera had always been part of the job. In this case, it may also become part of the answer.