NBC News Anchors Announce Colleagues’ Deaths Live On-Air After Devastating Helicopter Crash

Los Angeles is mourning the loss of beloved NBC LA reporter Eliana Moreno and helicopter pilot George Marciniw after their chopper crashed Tuesday night.

NBC4 anchors Colleen Williams and Carolyn Johnson confirmed their colleagues’ deaths on air on Tuesday, September 15.

“We’re coming on the air with heavy hearts tonight because we lost valued friends and colleagues just before 7 p.m.,” the pair said.

“They began flying together in 2023,” Johnson added. “George and Eliana often flew together, and you probably recall she often referred to him when they were covering stories together.”

The pair had been covering a fatal bus crash in Chatsworth when the helicopter crash occurred at 6:58 p.m. local time. The aircraft burst into flames, with Fire Captain Brandon Silverman telling NBC4 Tuesday night, it was “pretty well destroyed.”

“So we are going to have to go through the rubble and see how many victims there were on board, as well as identify the helicopter; we couldn’t even see a tail,” he said.

Later that evening, Williams confirmed that the downed chopper belonged to the station.

“We’ve been piecing it together here,” she said on air. “We knew it was a news chopper. We knew we’d lost contact with our people out there. And we’ve just received the confirmation.”

She added, “We’re going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, to process and to regroup.”

NBC4 and Telemundo 52 released a statement saying, “We are deeply saddened to share that a helicopter providing aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 was involved in a fatal accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”

One person on the ground was also killed in the crash.