NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik was covering a deadly bus collision in Chatsworth when a second emergency erupted only a short distance away. Around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, a helicopter suddenly descended into a parking area as dark smoke rose behind nearby commercial buildings. Kovacik arrived without knowing who owned the aircraft or who might have been aboard. Police ordered him and other media crews to move because flames, fuel, and debris made the location unsafe. Still reporting live, he told viewers that officials had not confirmed whether the fallen aircraft was a news helicopter. Then network vehicles began evacuating, and the uncertainty on his face turned into unmistakable fear.
As officers pushed people away from the burning wreckage, Kovacik realized NBC had lost contact with its own airborne crew. “Dude, that’s my crew in there,” he pleaded with an officer while trying to understand what had happened. The officer responded that everyone had to evacuate because the area remained dangerous. Back at the studio, veteran anchor Colleen Williams continued piecing together fragmented information while viewers watched the newsroom’s concern deepen. Approximately two hours after the crash, the station received the confirmation its employees had been dreading.
The aircraft was NewsChopper4, operated by Angel City Air while providing aerial coverage for NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52. Photojournalist Eliana Moreno and veteran pilot George Marciniw were killed, along with a pedestrian on the ground; fire officials also reported that two other people were transported to a hospital. Moreno and Marciniw had reportedly worked together since 2023 and were known for covering breaking news from above Southern California. Williams became emotional as she confirmed on air that the station’s helicopter had gone down shortly before 7 p.m. The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation into the cause, with available video expected to play an important role alongside maintenance files, flight records, insurance documentation, and evidence from the scene. Any attorney evaluating future liability will have to wait for those findings rather than rely on early assumptions. The helicopter had been among several aircraft covering an SUV collision with a city bus, an earlier tragedy that killed two people and injured six before the news crew’s own flight became the night’s second disaster.
The following morning, NBC4 anchor Lynette Romero described the newsroom as heartbroken. She said Moreno and Marciniw had been doing work they loved, noting their enthusiasm for breaking news and their pride in flying aboard NewsChopper4. The station and Telemundo 52 released a joint statement mourning both members of the crew as colleagues, friends, and familiar presences to Southern California viewers. For Kovacik, the disaster unfolded in two stages: first as a breaking story he was assigned to cover, then as the sudden loss of people he knew. His reaction carried the shock of recognizing that the smoke behind him was not merely another scene on the evening news. It was the moment a professional assignment became personal, live on television, before he had time to prepare.
