Update on L.A. news chopper casualty on the ground - a Guatemalan man, and audio from chopper.
The person killed on the ground during the NBC Los Angeles News Helicopter Crash in Chatsworth was 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia.
Mejia was a 29-year-old visitor from Guatemala who had just arrived in Los Angeles to meet a cousin for work related to transporting cars back to Guatemala.
He was struck on the ground when the NewsChopper4 helicopter went down between two commercial buildings on Mason Avenue while reporting on a prior fatal traffic accident (a car smashing into the middle of a bus).
Zareh Sevanesian, who witnessed the crash, said the helicopter was swaying before it started losing altitude.
“It was just getting lower and lower and lower and lower,” he said on the “TODAY” show.
NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 issued a joint statement expressing condolences.
“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,” the stations said. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.”
The helicopter crash occurred after two people were killed and others were injured in a crash at around 5 p.m. between a Los Angeles Metro bus and a passenger vehicle on Nordhoff Street at De Soto Avenue, officials said.
Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley, was arrested on suspicion of murder in the crash involving the bus, the Los Angeles Police Department said Wednesday.
Rios was driving her SUV southbound in the northbound lanes of De Soto Avenue when she ran a red light, almost struck a crossing car and then hit the bus, according to the LAPD.
The two dead were adult passengers on the bus, police said. Their names have not been publicly released. One of people hurt had severe injuries, police said.
Video from inside the chopper moments before the crash will be key in the investigation, he said, and it will be sent off for a sound spectrum analysis.
“In that recording we are clearly hearing sounds that are consistent with the engine changing its speed, and we’re also hearing tones that are being generated that are likely advisories to the pilot,” Salazar said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/helicopter-crashes-los-angeles-chatsworth-rcna598061
"What's clear from the video and from the audio is that we know the engine failed. Why it failed and why the pilot wasn't able to successfully land is the open question for the NTSB," aviation expert Steve Gaynard said.
Gaynard said that because the chopper had been hovering before the crash and not moving forward, its options for recovery after engine problems were reduced. The close surroundings and low altitude likely also left little room for the pilot to correct or troubleshoot.
"When the engine failed, it was a particularly challenging time because the helicopter was at low altitude and it was hovering. It didn't have any forward air speed," Gaynard said. "Particularly difficult to do an autorotation in an urban area. He had only that narrow alleyway, and part of that alleyway was blocked by those two large containers. No place to turn."
https://abc7.com/post/los-angeles-helicopter-crash-3rd-victim-identified-nbc4-crashes-chatsworth/19839630/
Audio from inside the helicopter: Reporter says to pilot, "We can't pull up?"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg9jn0uTjso&pp=ugUEEgJlbg%3D%3D