A news helicopter went down in a Los Angeles commercial area Tuesday evening, killing three people and sending another person to a hospital.
The crash happened in Chatsworth less than two hours after a separate collision involving an SUV and a Metro bus killed two people nearby. News crews had converged on the neighborhood to cover that wreck.
The helicopter belonged to NBC’s Los Angeles station KNBC, CNN reported. NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams told viewers the station had lost contact with its helicopter team before the aircraft was confirmed down.
What caused the helicopter to crash remained unknown Tuesday night.
Another Emergency
BREAKING: KNBC helicopter crashes while covering metro bus crash in Los Angeles, California. pic.twitter.com/TgzkkVTBHx
— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) September 16, 2026
The Los Angeles Fire Department logged the aircraft crash at 6:57 p.m. in the 9100 block of North Mason Avenue.
The first arriving crew reported that a helicopter of an unknown make and type had gone down between two commercial buildings. Fire from the crash was threatening four vehicles as firefighters began attacking the flames and assessing patients.
Fifty-six firefighters responded. By the department’s later update, the fire had been extinguished without spreading into either building. Four vehicles and two storage containers were damaged.
Firefighters assessed four patients. Three were pronounced dead at the scene, while the fourth was taken to a hospital in unknown condition.
At least one of those killed was outside the helicopter.
LAFD Capt. Branden Silverman told reporters that person had been in the parking lot when the aircraft came down. He described the helicopter as badly destroyed and said crews would have to work through the wreckage to determine who had been aboard. The Associated Press reported that authorities had not immediately determined how many of the victims were helicopter occupants.
Minutes Apart
The helicopter crash unfolded near another major emergency already drawing crews and news organizations to Chatsworth.
At 5:03 p.m., firefighters responded to Nordhoff Street after a passenger vehicle collided with an MTA bus. The LAFD later reported eight patients from that collision: six people were transported to hospitals and two were pronounced dead.
NBC Los Angeles reported that several television news helicopters had been over the west San Fernando Valley covering the bus crash when the aircraft went down.
CNN identified the helicopter as a Eurocopter AS350 B2 manufactured in 2004, citing Federal Aviation Administration records.
The Investigation
The fire department said the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration would handle the aircraft investigation.
No cause had been announced Tuesday night, and officials had not released the identities of the people killed.
The LAFD scheduled a late-evening press conference near the crash scenes as firefighters, police and federal aviation officials continued their response.