NBC4 Los Angeles anchor and general assignment reporter Robert Kovacik drove out to Chatsworth on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, to cover a fiery crash in the San Fernando Valley, California. Before the night was over he was telling viewers that his own colleagues had been killed — and grieving them on camera.
Kovacik was on the ground at a deadly traffic collision when a helicopter flying aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 dropped from the sky shortly before 7 p.m. and erupted in flames. Three people died in the crash: 38-year-old aerial photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw were aboard, while a pedestrian on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia, 29, was identified on Wednesday, September 16. Gutierrez Mejia was from Guatemala, that country’s consulate confirmed, and he died in a parking lot, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
From One Crash Scene to Another
The day’s first emergency call came at 5:03 p.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department said. An SUV had plowed into a city bus on Nordhoff Street, a wreck that left at least two people dead and six others injured. Police say Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley, drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy road, ran a red light and nearly struck another vehicle before hitting the bus. Several news aircraft were circling the scene, among them NewsChopper4, which the aerial production company Angel City Air operated.
Police said on September 16 that Rios was arrested on murder charges Tuesday night. She is being held in a Los Angeles jail with bail set at $4 million.
The helicopter went down about 1.5 miles away, in a parking lot beside a self-storage facility. More than 50 firefighters responded, and flames consumed at least four cars and two storage containers before crews knocked the fire down. The Los Angeles Fire Department said a fourth person was also taken to a hospital.
A Reporter Learns the News on Air
Kovacik had been working the bus collision when black smoke caught his eye and he headed toward it. In that first live report, with no one yet certain which station the aircraft belonged to, he told viewers:
“I just saw a colleague of mine from ABC in tears and concern. We don’t know where the chopper is from. We don’t know if it even is a chopper. We don’t know if it is a news chopper,” Kovacik said.
Turning to the anchors back in the studio, he said: “You think about it ladies, as we deal with this day of dueling tragedies here in Chatsworth, we were just getting ready to come on air for the NBC 4 news at 7:00 tonight and we were there.”
He went on: “Colleen and Carolyn, we are surrounded by this community… members of the media and colleagues from across Southern California, as well as the LAFD and the LAPD and members of the city all coming together tonight.”
Eyes glassy, he closed out his report: “In Chatsworth, I’m Robert Kovacik. Let’s go back to you.”
Footage from the scene caught Kovacik wiping tears from his eyes, then climbing into a police car with an officer parked a short distance from the wreck. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass came by to hug him there, and fire officials, other politicians and fellow journalists embraced him as well.
He has been with NBC since 2004, according to his LinkedIn, and for years his assignments had put him alongside Moreno and Marciniw.
NBC4 anchors and reporters stayed on the air for two hours, informing viewers that the station had lost contact with its own crew. Anchor Colleen Williams identified the aircraft down in Chatsworth as NewsChopper4 at 9 p.m. “We are coming on the air with heavy hearts tonight because we lost valued friends and colleagues … while on assignment tonight,” she said, visibly emotional, her voice shaking. “We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, process it.”
In a joint statement, the two stations said: “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.”
What Investigators Know So Far
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are leading the inquiry, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is involved as well. NTSB investigator-in-charge Fabian Salazar began the on-scene examination of the crashed Eurocopter AS 350 B2 on September 16. No cause has been determined.
A video stream from the helicopter picked up engine noise and a woman’s voice, believed to be Moreno’s, saying “pull” and then, “What? You can’t pull up?” moments before the aircraft went down. An engine failure may have been a factor, according to speculation from Zoey Tur, a veteran Los Angeles helicopter pilot, though investigators have not stated a cause.
Remembering the NewsChopper4 Crew
Moreno was born in Orange County and left Chapman University in 2010 with a degree in broadcast journalism and political science. She joined the Angel City Air helicopter team that same year. Several Southern California outlets carried her reporting, and viewers came to know her voice during NBC4 and Telemundo 52 aerial coverage. She had been engaged to be married for less than a year. In a statement posted online after her death was confirmed, Telemundo said she was “without a doubt” the best airborne reporter in Los Angeles, adding: “Eliana Moreno was a wonderful human being.”
Marciniw was raised in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974. They had flown together since 2023, building up hundreds of hours in the air.
Lynette Romero, co-anchor of NBCLA’s morning newscast, talked about the pair on NBC’s “TODAY” show on Wednesday, September 16. “They were both doing what they loved so much, and for me, that’s comfort in knowing how happy they were,” Romero said. “They loved breaking news, and they loved being in NewsChopper4.”
