LOS ANGELES — 3 people were killed Tuesday evening when a television news helicopter belonging to NBC Los Angeles (KNBC-TV) crashed into a residential block in the Chatsworth section of Los Angeles while the aircraft was broadcasting live from the scene of a bus crash.
The helicopter went down about 6:57 p.m. in the 9100 block of North Mason Avenue, in the northwest San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Fifty-six firefighters responded and extinguished a fire touched off by the crash.
The Fire Department said four people were assessed at the scene. Three were pronounced dead there, and a fourth was taken to a local hospital in unknown condition.
Initial reports said two crew members were aboard the helicopter. One of the three people killed was on the ground, officials said.
The aircraft was operating for NBC and was transmitting a live shot of a bus crash elsewhere in the city when it went down, according to the network.
No structures were damaged, the Fire Department said. Four vehicles and two storage containers were burned.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will lead the investigation, the Fire Department said. The Los Angeles Police Department logged the crash as incident No. 4127.
The names of those killed were not immediately released. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
