A veteran NBC Los Angeles anchor struggled through an emotional live report after learning that two longtime colleagues had been killed in the fiery crash of the station’s news helicopter.
Robert Kovacik, who has worked for NBC4 since 2004, was reporting from Chatsworth as the horrifying reality surrounding the fallen NewsChopper4 became clear to journalists gathered near the wreckage.
Aerial journalist Eliana Moreno, 38, and veteran pilot George Marciniw were killed when the helicopter crashed Tuesday evening while covering an earlier deadly collision involving a Metro bus and an SUV.
Edy Gutierrez Mejia, a 29-year-old man who was on the ground near the crash site, was also killed when the helicopter plunged into a commercial area and erupted in flames.
The bus collision being covered by Moreno and Marciniw had already killed passengers Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31, bringing the combined death toll from the two tragedies to five.
Before authorities publicly confirmed the helicopter’s identity, Kovacik appeared visibly unsettled as concern spread among reporters who could not locate one of their own aircraft.
“I just saw a colleague of mine from ABC in tears and concern,” Kovacik told viewers while emphasizing that reporters still did not know whether the fallen aircraft was a news helicopter.
Once the devastating confirmation arrived, video showed Kovacik wiping away tears and sitting inside a police vehicle only a short distance from the wreckage.
The longtime reporter later returned to the air and attempted to describe how emergency personnel, city officials and members of Southern California’s news community were gathering around the scene.
Kovacik referred to the “day of dueling tragedies” and recalled that the NBC4 team had been preparing for its 7 p.m. newscast when the second disaster unfolded.
“We are surrounded by this community,” he said while describing members of the media, firefighters, police officers and city representatives coming together amid the loss.
Kovacik completed the report with glassy eyes before signing off from Chatsworth and quietly returning the broadcast to anchors Colleen Williams and Carolyn Johnson.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was later photographed embracing Kovacik near the crash site as officials and journalists mourned the three people killed in the helicopter disaster.
Moreno was a familiar voice to audiences of NBC4 and Telemundo 52 after spending years reporting from above wildfires, police pursuits and breaking-news scenes across Southern California.
Marciniw was an experienced pilot and flight instructor who had accumulated approximately 14,000 hours in the air during an aviation career spanning more than three decades.
NBC said Moreno and Marciniw had flown hundreds of hours together, forming a trusted aerial-news team while working aboard a helicopter operated by Angel City Air.
Heartbreaking moment veteran NBC anchor breaks down in tears at scene of deadly LA helicopter crash https://t.co/vrRxvbhDVk pic.twitter.com/jWC1WU7AnY
— New York Post (@nypost) September 16, 2026
The pair had been documenting the aftermath of the bus collision when NewsChopper4 suddenly descended shortly before 7 p.m. and crashed near a storage business on Mason Avenue.
Video transmitted during the helicopter’s final moments and footage captured by nearby security cameras are now being examined as investigators attempt to reconstruct the aircraft’s descent.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation with assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration, while the wreckage, maintenance history, weather conditions and available recordings are being reviewed.
Although footage and cockpit audio have prompted public speculation about a potential loss of power, investigators have not announced an official cause for the crash.
Two additional people on the ground were hospitalized after the impact, which ignited a fire that damaged vehicles and storage containers before more than 70 firefighters brought it under control.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 issued a joint statement expressing profound sadness and offering condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of everyone killed in the accident.
Colleagues remembered Moreno and Marciniw as skilled professionals who helped viewers understand emergencies from above while providing essential information during fires, pursuits and other rapidly developing events.
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