An SUV slammed into a city bus, then the news helicopters took flight. How one tragedy led to another

A Deadly Evening in Chatsworth Leaves Five Families Grieving

Healfromzero.com – What began as a catastrophic collision involving a Los Angeles Metro bus became an even broader emergency Tuesday night in Chatsworth, where a television news helicopter later crashed nearby while covering the first disaster.

Five people died in the sequence of events: bus passengers Gage Weida, 31, and Daniel Castillo, 46; aerial photojournalist-reporter Eliana Moreno; pilot George Marciniw; and Edy Gutierrez Mejia, a young tourist who was on the ground when the helicopter came down.

The two incidents unfolded within only a few blocks and roughly two hours of one another, confronting firefighters, police officers, paramedics and journalists with a rapidly changing emergency scene.

“To have two incidents of that significance in that short amount of time within a few blocks of each other is definitely a unique situation for any department,” Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Brandon Silverman said.

Bus Collision Triggered the First Emergency Response

At about 5 p.m., emergency crews arrived to find a Ford Expedition lodged deeply inside an eastbound Metro bus. The collision occurred in the suburban Los Angeles community of Chatsworth, where commuters had been traveling home, heading to work or making ordinary evening plans.

Authorities said Bailee Lynn Rios drove through a red light, moved into opposing traffic to avoid stopped vehicles and nearly hit another car before striking the bus. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said she was traveling far above the speed limit and was allegedly impaired by drugs. Narcotics were found inside the SUV, he said.

“At full force, she plunged into that metro bus,” Hochman said.

Weida and Castillo were pronounced dead at the crash site. The bus driver was injured but was able to contact the bus operating division for assistance, said Stephanie Wiggins, chief executive of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Rescue crews faced a difficult extraction. Some occupants were trapped amid crushed metal and broken glass, while another person had been thrown into the intersection. Firefighters used hydraulic rescue equipment, including tools commonly known as the Jaws of Life, and reciprocating saws to free people from the vehicles.

Silverman said firefighters removed part of a vehicle door while the SUV remained embedded in the bus in order to reach Rios. A trapped bus rider and the SUV driver were then taken to a hospital after being freed.

Rios has been charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence and reckless driving. Hochman said the possible maximum punishment could be life in prison. Her attorney has been contacted for comment.

A Helicopter Crash Added a Second Scene of Loss

As the response to the bus crash continued, a helicopter operated for KNBC-TV NBC4 and KVEA-TV was flying above the area to provide aerial coverage. About two hours after the roadway collision, the aircraft descended and crashed into a parking lot a block east of the original scene.

The crash sparked a fire and produced a loud explosion. Silverman recalled hearing someone in the crowd shout that the helicopter had crashed. When he turned, he saw black smoke rising from the nearby lot.

Firefighters who had just completed the demanding vehicle rescues immediately shifted to the second emergency. Police, fire crews and news personnel redirected their attention to the blaze as the scale of the night’s tragedy became clear.

Moreno, the helicopter’s aerial photojournalist-reporter, and Marciniw, the pilot, were killed. Gutierrez Mejia also died on the ground. He was a visitor from Guatemala who had recently arrived in Los Angeles.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are examining the helicopter crash. Video showing the aircraft descending has become an important part of the effort to determine why it went down.

Loss Felt Across the City

The victims represented very different lives interrupted in a matter of hours. The dead included a father of four, a Los Angeles resident nearing a birthday, a tourist beginning a visit to the city, an engaged reporter and a veteran pilot approaching retirement.

The events have left families, first responders and Southern California’s broadcast-news community mourning. City and state leaders joined community members at a Thursday vigil, where the focus remained on the ordinary routines that were shattered that evening.

“My heart is with the families whose lives changed forever Tuesday night. Simply going to work, coming from work to come back to your family, you expect to see them,” Mayor Karen Bass said. “And they never arrive.”

Hochman similarly described the people aboard the bus as individuals simply moving through everyday life. Some may have been headed to jobs, returning home, meeting loved ones or stopping for dinner, he said.

“What they did not expect is what was about to happen,” Hochman said.

For Chatsworth, the tragedy has underscored how swiftly a routine commute can become a large-scale emergency and how one crisis can place additional people in danger. Investigators now face separate but consequential questions: the criminal case arising from the bus crash and the aviation inquiry into the helicopter’s fatal descent.

While those investigations continue, the immediate human cost remains central. Five lives were lost in a single evening, and a community accustomed to the flow of traffic, work and local news coverage is now left to reckon with two devastating events that unfolded almost side by side.