It was a night of tragedy in Chatsworth, starting with a Metrobus crash and ending with the fiery crash of an NBC4 helicopter, killing two journalists and a bystander on the ground.
The scene Tuesday was a mix of confusion and chaos, with first responders deployed across two catastrophes and television news teams desperately trying to determine the safety of journalists. The collision claimed five lives and left others with varying degrees of injuries.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were working Wednesday to determine exactly what caused the Eurocopter AS350 B2 news helicopter to crash.
NTSB investigator Fabian Salazar said authorities are examining the wreckage, reviewing maintenance logs, surveillance footage, weather reports and witness interviews, and reviewing the pilot’s training to determine what went wrong.
But the most important piece of information so far was audio recorded from the helicopter during live coverage of reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marcineux’s final moments before the helicopter crashed.
The video shows aerial footage of the bus accident with a helicopter circling in the background. Suddenly, the engine motor noise diminished and the horn blared, perhaps warning the pilot that the main rotor had slowed too much or that the helicopter had lost oil pressure. Moreno responded to the noise with a quiet “hmmm.”
The camera angle begins to lower and Moreno can be heard asking, “Can’t you stop the car?” before the video cuts out. Moreno, Marciniu and 29-year-old Eddie Gutierrez Mejia, who was on the ground when the helicopter crashed around 7 p.m., were killed.
“That video is probably the most important piece of evidence we’ve recovered to date,” Salazar said.
Aviation experts told the Times that the crash may have been the result of a mechanical failure in the 22-year-old plane. This aircraft is a popular helicopter for news organizations and law enforcement agencies due to its general reliability.
Zoe Tarr, a veteran pilot of the helicopter the NBC4 crew was flying, said the sound her microphone picked up was the sound of an engine shutting down.
“First, the engine starts winding down, reducing power to the rotor blades. Then you hear a horn warning that the rotor speed is low. You can even hear the blades slapping to slow down,” said Toole.
However, Tuer noted that the fire that broke out when the helicopter crashed indicated there was still some fuel left, making it more likely that the engine stopped for another reason.
When a helicopter’s rotors stop spinning, there is a safety maneuver known as autorotation that allows the pilot to try to gain enough momentum and upward flow to the rotor blades to increase rotation, which helps control the aircraft during descent, said Jack Kress, a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot and helicopter accident investigation instructor with the USC Aviation Safety and Security Program.
Kress compared the maneuver to a fixed-wing airplane, which uses the force generated by its wings to glide through the air, where the helicopter uses the upward force on its rotors as it descends or advances to spin them fast enough to maintain relative control over the plane.
But Kress said the fact that the helicopter appears to be hovering in the air at a low altitude will make it difficult for pilots to perform the maneuver.
“In this case, he’s at the worst part of the altitude-speed curve,” Kress said, referring to the charts helicopter pilots use to track altitude and airspeed to maintain safe flight conditions. “It’s a dangerous place.”
Helicopter pilots are trained to avoid such situations, Kress said. This is because if engine trouble occurs, pilots have little recourse due to the lack of altitude and forward momentum. However, news helicopters and police helicopters typically hover and maintain low altitudes, he said.
This situation, in which the aircraft hovers in the air with little altitude or momentum, is commonly referred to by helicopter pilots as a “dead man’s curve,” said Jeff Gazzetti, a former NTSB and FAA investigator and instructor in USC’s aviation safety and security program.
“If something goes wrong, that’s the worst place to be,” Guzzetti said.
The helicopter was owned by Tiny Bubbles Aviation Inc., a holding company whose business address is listed at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, according to state and FAA records. The company is listed as the owner of at least six aircraft, including five helicopters.
Lawrence Welk, who is listed in public records as an agent for Tiny Bubbles Aviation, is also the president of Welk Aviation, the company that owns and operates news helicopters for KNBC and KTLA, according to its website.
Welk confirmed to the Times in a brief phone call Wednesday that the company is cooperating with investigators, but declined to comment on the case.
“I just got back from the scene of an accident,” Welk said.
The bus accident brought an army of first responders and news media to the area, including a television news helicopter flying overhead. Residents gathered around the bus to figure out what was happening.
That’s when everyone heard an explosion and saw a fireball rising several blocks away. Many people rushed to the scene where the fire was raging. Firefighters worked to extinguish the fire while police pushed back members of the public and reporters. Rumors soon spread that a news helicopter had crashed.
NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams told viewers that the station had lost contact with the helicopter crew. Around 9 p.m., she confirmed to the NBC4 team that the crash had occurred.
The helicopter crashed between two commercial buildings in the 9100 block of Mason Avenue, hitting two cargo containers from a truck.
This situation exposed the team at NBC4 to a journalist’s nightmare: the tragedy of reporters becoming part of the story.
“They were sacrificing their lives in service to their community,” NBC morning anchor Lynette Romero told viewers with her fellow anchors by her side. “They were determined to the end and dedicated to the work they love. Our hearts are heavy this morning, but we are here with you. We are here for you as we move through these tragedies together.”
On Wednesday, authorities announced that Bailey Lynn Rios, the driver of the SUV that crashed into the bus, was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Rios, 36, is being held in lieu of $4 million bail, according to jail records.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Rios was driving a gray 2004 Ford Expedition southbound in the northbound lanes of De Soto Avenue around 5 p.m. Tuesday when he ran a red light at Nordhoff Street. The SUV narrowly avoided a car passing through the intersection and collided with the side of a subway bus on Route 166.
Police said one passenger was thrown from the bus and another was partially ejected from the violent collision. Two passengers, identified as 31-year-old Gage Weeda and 46-year-old Daniel Castillo, both of Arleta, died at the scene.
One passenger suffered serious injuries and five others were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Residents were shaken by the series of events. “You could be gone in an instant, right?” said Michael Sanchez, a physical therapist who lives in Winnetka.