KNBC's drive for breaking news led to the Chatsworth tragedy
By Daniel Okafor · Reporting from New York ·
A news helicopter crashed while covering a bus collision in Chatsworth, proving that the industry's competitive pursuit of the first shot creates fatal risks for crews and bystanders.
Bailee Lynn Rios drove a Ford Expedition into a Metro bus at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The collision killed two people. Then the news helicopters took flight to cover the wreck. One of those aircraft fell from the sky and killed three more people. This second tragedy was not an accident of fate. It was the result of a news culture that prizes the first shot over the safety of the crew and the public.
The bus crash happened on September 15, 2026. According to CNN, the Los Angeles Police Department said Rios ran a red light. She drove well beyond the speed limit and plunged into the bus.
Gage Weida, 31, and Daniel Castillo, 46, died in the collision. Four other people were injured. The bus driver was also injured.
A judge set the bail for Rios at $4.1 million. District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Rios was allegedly impaired by drugs.
At 6:57 p.m., a news helicopter for KNBC-TV and KVEA-TV crashed. It fell into a storage facility parking lot east of the bus wreck.
Eliana Moreno, 38, and pilot George Marciniw died in the aircraft. Edy Gutierrez Mejia, 29, died on the ground.
The helicopter hit a shipping container during its descent. Leaking jet fuel started a fire that damaged cars and two storage containers.
CNN said 67 firefighters worked to put out the blaze.
The NTSB expects a preliminary report in 30 days, while a final report will take 18 months.
Mayor Karen Bass said the city lost 5 Angelenos that day.
The race to be a hero
The crashed aircraft was an AS350 B2 helicopter. It was operated by Angel City Air. KNBC and KVEA share the Brokaw News Center and used this aircraft.
The Los Angeles Times interviewed former pilots about the risks of this work. Kurt Deetz flew for KMEX starting in 1995. He said pilots are pushed to be the first in the air.
Deetz said that being first on the scene makes a pilot a hero. He now calls that idea dumb. He noted that powerful cameras mean there is no need to hover at low altitudes.
Retired pilot Tim Lynn flew for 16 years for KTLA-TV. He said the air is a well-coordinated operation. He argued that pilots talk on the radio and know each other's names.
Coordination does not remove the risk of a mechanical failure at low altitude. It does not stop the pressure to get the shot.
Breaking news creates operational risks
This disaster follows the pattern of Fatal news helicopter crashes in the United States. The shared mechanism is the pursuit of breaking news coverage, which creates operational risks that lead to fatal aviation accidents.
The 2007 Phoenix collision is a clear example. Two helicopters from 3TV and ABC15 collided midair while covering a police chase. Four crew members died.
The result of that crash was a permanent change. All four Phoenix stations now share a single helicopter. They stopped competing for the air.
In Los Angeles, the competition remains. George Marciniw was a veteran pilot who spent decades in the air. Even a veteran cannot fly away from a systemic drive for proximity.
NTSB investigator Fabian Salazar said video shows the engine changing speed before the aircraft fell. The wreckage is now at a facility in Phoenix. Investigators are looking for avionics data to understand the cockpit.
The drive for the first shot creates a hazard for everyone. It puts pilots in dangerous positions. It puts bystanders like Edy Gutierrez Mejia in the path of falling wreckage.
The NTSB will likely find a mechanical cause for the descent of the AS350 B2. But the operational cause is the culture of the newsroom. When the goal is to be the first and the lowest, the margin for error disappears. The industry accepts these risks as the cost of doing business. The people in the parking lot in Chatsworth paid that cost.
The news industry must move to shared helicopter pools in Los Angeles. Competition for altitude is a gamble with human lives. Until stations stop racing to be the first on the scene, more crews will fall.
Sources
- CNN: An SUV slammed into a city bus, then the news helicopters took flight. How one tragedy led to another
- Los Angeles Times: In chaotic L.A. skies, news helicopter pilots juggle competition, camaraderie, risk
- NBC Los Angeles: ‘Helicopter George.' Pilot George Marciniw remembered at one of his favorite Burbank spots
- AZ Family: Crashed LA news copter headed to Phoenix NTSB facility, reports say