An engaged reporter, a soon-to-retire pilot and a young tourist: What we know about the L.A. helicopter crash victims

Los Angeles Mourns Three Lives Lost in News Helicopter Crash

Healfromzero.com – A routine aerial assignment over Los Angeles ended in tragedy Tuesday evening when a news helicopter crashed in a commercial area, killing the two people aboard and a tourist who had arrived in the city only hours earlier.

Eliana Moreno, an aerial photojournalist and reporter preparing for marriage; veteran pilot George Marciniw, who was nearing retirement; and Guatemalan visitor Edy Gutierrez Mejia were killed in the crash. The helicopter came down in a business parking lot while covering a deadly bus collision in Chatsworth, a suburban community roughly 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

At least two additional people were hospitalized with injuries, officials said. The Eurocopter AS350 was operated by Angel City Air and was working for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 at the time of the accident.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are examining the wreckage and the circumstances leading to the crash. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days, while a final finding on probable cause may take as long as 18 months.

A sudden loss for a close-knit flight team

Moreno and Marciniw had worked together in the air since 2023. Their work required a close partnership: the pilot maneuvered through Los Angeles airspace while the reporter operated equipment and delivered live descriptions of events unfolding below.

Video from the helicopter’s final descent captured sounds consistent with a loss of engine power and an alarm that appeared to warn of slowing main rotor blades. The precise cause has not been established.

The aftermath was felt immediately by colleagues and viewers accustomed to seeing Moreno’s reporting from above. During an on-air announcement, anchor Colleen Williams said the station had lost contact with the crew before confirming that its helicopter had crashed.

“We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, to process and to regroup.”

The crash transformed an assignment intended to document another tragedy into a devastating loss for the people covering it and for those on the ground.

Eliana Moreno’s passion for reporting

Moreno was born in Orange County and graduated from Chapman University in 2010, earning a degree in broadcast journalism and political science. She joined Angel City Air in September of that year and built a career serving regional news outlets from the air.

Her work earned recognition in 2023, when she received a Radio and Television News Association of Southern California award for Best TV Continuing Coverage. But the accounts shared by those who knew her describe someone whose enthusiasm reached beyond professional accomplishment.

Moreno’s social media presence, including the name “eli_in_the_heli,” showed the demanding and unusual nature of aerial journalism. She offered viewers glimpses of her role inside the aircraft, explaining how she worked a forward-mounted camera while narrating scenes involving brush fires, shootings and police pursuits across the Los Angeles area.

Former colleague Lynette Romero remembered Moreno as someone who had long been drawn to reporting and whose energy was unmistakable.

“She was just such a light, such a spark plug.”

Romero said Moreno had a small stature but an expansive spirit, adding that her heart and excitement affected everyone around her. On a visit that gave a reporting team a behind-the-scenes view of the helicopter, Moreno eagerly explained the aircraft and the equipment she used.

“She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew how to express it to our viewers.”

Moreno came from a large family that took pride in seeing her work in the community where she grew up. Outside journalism, she loved animals and cared for dogs and chickens. Her social profiles described her as a dog and chicken mom.

She also enjoyed line dancing and running. In May, she celebrated completing a half-marathon in less than two hours alongside her fiancé, despite living with asthma. Photos from that day showed the couple displaying their race medals.

A trip to Tennessee in October appeared to mark their engagement. Moreno shared video from the trip with her ring visible beside her fiancé, writing that it was an experience she would remember for the rest of her life. Her profile included an engagement-ring symbol and initials alongside an orange heart, while her fiancé’s profile reflected the same bond.

A pilot close to a new chapter

Marciniw was an experienced pilot who had spent years doing the difficult work required for aerial newsgathering. He had been planning to retire soon, a milestone that would have brought a long-earned period of rest after a career spent flying demanding assignments over one of the nation’s busiest metropolitan regions.

His professional relationship with Moreno extended beyond the cockpit. Their social media posts reflected the connection built through years of shared work, coverage assignments and time spent navigating the city together from above.

Aerial crews often operate under intense pressure, responding quickly to breaking news while communicating with newsroom teams and maintaining focus on the conditions surrounding the aircraft. The investigation will examine every relevant element of that final flight.

A tourist’s visit cut tragically short

Gutierrez Mejia had traveled from Guatemala and had arrived in Los Angeles just hours before the crash. He was fatally struck when the helicopter came down in the parking lot.

His death underscores the broad human toll of aviation accidents: a crash can affect crew members, witnesses, nearby workers, travelers and families whose lives intersect with a disaster without warning. For his loved ones, a visit to Los Angeles became an unimaginable loss.

As investigators work to determine what happened, three families are left grieving futures that had been taking shape in very different ways. Moreno was looking toward marriage, Marciniw toward retirement, and Gutierrez Mejia toward time in a new city. Their deaths have left colleagues, relatives and a wider Los Angeles community confronting the abruptness of the tragedy.