On a September evening in Los Angeles, a single act of alleged impairment set in motion a chain of loss that no one could have anticipated — a speeding SUV tearing into a commuter bus, and then, as first responders still worked the wreckage, a news helicopter falling from the sky nearby. Five people died across two scenes separated by two hours and one city block, each life a reminder that catastrophe rarely arrives alone. The city was left to grieve not only the dead but the strange, compounding cruelty of how they were lost.
LA's Twin Tragedies: Bus Crash Triggers Helicopter Disaster, Five Dead
Five people killed: two bus passengers, one reporter, one pilot, and one pedestrian. Multiple others injured in the bus collision. Families of victims left grieving.
The helicopter just crashed, drawing eyes away from the first disaster.
Mark
How does something like this even happen—two major disasters in the same place, two hours apart?
Mimi
It's the randomness that makes it so jarring. The bus crash was caused by one person's impaired driving. The helicopter was there because of the bus crash. If Rios hadn't hit that bus, the helicopter wouldn't have been in that airspace at that moment.
Luke
But we don't actually know why the helicopter went down yet. The NTSB is still investigating. We have video of the descent, we know it hit a shipping container, but the cause—mechanical failure, pilot error, something else—that's still unknown.
Mimi
True. What we do know is that five people died as a result of these two events. Two on the bus, three when the helicopter fell.
Mark
And the driver of the SUV—what happens to her now?
Mimi
She's facing second-degree murder charges, plus DUI and reckless driving. Possible life sentence. She was allegedly impaired, driving well over the speed limit, had narcotics in the vehicle.
Luke
The charges are serious, but we should note those are allegations at this stage. She hasn't been convicted. Her attorney hasn't commented publicly yet.
Mark
What struck me most was reading about the reporter and pilot—they were there to cover the tragedy, and then they became part of it.
Mimi
Eliana Moreno was reporting live from the helicopter about the bus crash when it happened. George Marciniw was an experienced pilot. The news community in LA lost two of their own.
Luke
And Edy Gutierrez Mejia—he was just a bystander. A tourist from Guatemala who happened to be in that parking lot.
Mimi
Right. He'd just arrived in LA. That's the randomness again. He wasn't involved in either incident. He was just there.
Mark
Do we know what caused the helicopter to crash?
Luke
Not yet. The NTSB will have a preliminary report in 30 days, but the full investigation could take 18 months. They're analyzing video, interviewing witnesses, examining the wreckage. There are clues—engine sounds changing, alerts to the pilot—but what actually went wrong is still being determined.
Le Pouls
- An allegedly drug-impaired driver ran a red light at high speed in Chatsworth, driving her SUV almost entirely into a Metro bus and killing two passengers before paramedics could reach them.
- Two hours later, as the scene was winding down, an NBC4 news helicopter covering the crash descended erratically, struck a shipping container, and exploded in a nearby parking lot — killing three more people including a beloved reporter and veteran pilot.
- The dual disasters overwhelmed first responders who found themselves sprinting from one inferno to another within the same neighborhood, with sixty-seven firefighters eventually battling the helicopter blaze.
- The Southern California news community fractured with grief as colleagues on the ground realized in real time that it was their own station's helicopter that had gone down.
- Five families are now in mourning — a birthday that became a funeral, a father of four silenced, a tourist far from home, a journalist mid-broadcast, a pilot who never came back — while investigators and prosecutors begin the long work of accountability.
On a September evening in Los Angeles, a single act of alleged impairment set in motion a chain of loss that no one could have anticipated — a speeding SUV tearing into a commuter bus, and then, as first responders still worked the wreckage, a news helicopter falling from the sky nearby. Five people died across two scenes separated by two hours and one city block, each life a reminder that catastrophe rarely arrives alone. The city was left to grieve not only the dead but the strange, compounding cruelty of how they were lost.
On a Tuesday evening in September, the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles became the site of two disasters that unfolded within blocks and hours of each other, leaving five people dead and a city in shock.
Around 5 p.m., Bailee Lynn Rios allegedly drove her Ford Expedition through a red light at high speed, impaired by drugs, crossing into opposing traffic before slamming into an LA Metro bus. The SUV lodged itself nearly inside the vehicle. When paramedics arrived, two passengers were already gone: Gage Weida, 31, who had been days away from celebrating his birthday with family, and Daniel Castillo, 46, a father of four remembered for filling every room with laughter. Hydraulic rescue tools freed others from the wreckage. The district attorney called it a preventable tragedy. Rios now faces possible life imprisonment.
By 7 p.m., the immediate chaos had quieted. Captain Brandon Silverman of the county fire department stood at the bus scene preparing for a live interview. Then someone in the crowd shouted that a helicopter had crashed. A block away, an NBC4 news helicopter had begun its descent over the accident scene when something went wrong — engine sounds shifted, alerts fired, a voice asked "You can't pull up?" — and the aircraft plummeted into a storage facility parking lot, striking a shipping container and bursting into flames.
Silverman raced to the new scene. LAPD officers were already pulling a man from the burning wreckage: Edy Gutierrez Mejia, 29, a tourist from Guatemala who had recently arrived in Los Angeles. He could not be saved. Inside the helicopter were Eliana Moreno, 38, a bilingual reporter and photojournalist, and George Marciniw, a veteran pilot known for his warmth. Sixty-seven firefighters fought the blaze as jet fuel ignited four cars and two storage containers.
At the bus scene, NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik heard rumors it might be a news helicopter and began checking on colleagues. When the confirmation came, his voice broke. Anchor Colleen Williams delivered the news to viewers in an audibly distressed voice just after 9 p.m. The station went dark on the story and switched programming.
Mayor Karen Bass visited both scenes that night. On Thursday, a vigil honored all five victims. The NTSB and FAA opened an investigation into the helicopter crash, with a preliminary report expected within thirty days. Rios was wheeled into court on a stretcher and deemed medically unfit for arraignment, her bail set at $4.1 million. Captain Silverman, who had run from one catastrophe to the next in a single evening, offered the only honest forecast: "It'll be a long road ahead for people to recover from this."
On a Tuesday evening in September, Los Angeles experienced something Captain Brandon Silverman of the county fire department called a rare and devastating convergence: two fatal disasters unfolding within blocks of each other, separated by just two hours.
Around 5 p.m., in the Chatsworth neighborhood, a Ford Expedition driven by Bailee Lynn Rios ran a red light at high speed. Rios was allegedly impaired by drugs and had narcotics in the vehicle as she drove well beyond the speed limit. She entered opposing traffic, struck another car, then plowed directly into an LA Metro bus carrying passengers heading home from work. The SUV lodged almost entirely inside the bus. When paramedics arrived, two passengers were already dead: Gage Weida, 31, and Daniel Castillo, 46. Weida had been planning to celebrate his 32nd birthday with family that Saturday. Castillo was a father of four, remembered by his daughter as someone who brought laughter and light into every room. Firefighters used hydraulic tools—the Jaws of Life, reciprocating saws—to cut trapped passengers and the driver free. Four others sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman called it a preventable tragedy. Rios now faces possible life imprisonment on charges of second-degree murder, driving under the influence, and reckless driving.
By 7 p.m., Captain Silverman stood at the bus scene with a small crew, preparing for a live interview with an NBC4 reporter. The immediate chaos had subsided. Fifty-six firefighters had mostly cleared the area. Some onlookers livestreamed on their phones. Others stood processing the shock or searching for loved ones. The worst, it seemed, had passed.
Then someone in the crowd shouted: "The helicopter just crashed!" Silverman turned to see a thick black plume of smoke rising from a parking lot one block east. At 6:57 p.m., an NBC4 news helicopter had begun its descent over the accident scene. Video from the aircraft captured the moment things went wrong—sounds of the engine changing speed, alerts sounding to the pilot, a voice asking, "You can't pull up?" A loud buzzing noise followed. The feed shook violently. The helicopter descended rapidly, struck a shipping container, and plummeted into a storage facility parking lot behind a commercial building.
Silverman and a rescue ambulance crew raced to the new scene. They found LAPD officers pulling a man from the burning wreckage and dragging him away from the flames. The ambulance crew began administering first aid to the man, later identified as Edy Gutierrez Mejia, 29, a tourist from Cuilapa, Guatemala who had recently arrived in Los Angeles. They could not save him. Inside the helicopter, which had burst into flames, lay two more victims: Eliana Moreno, 38, a bilingual reporter and photojournalist who had been covering the bus accident from the air, and George Marciniw, the pilot, a veteran with decades of experience remembered for his kindness and warm smile. Jet fuel leaked from the wreckage, igniting four parked cars and two storage containers. Fire extinguishers from police and fire departments made no dent in the blaze. When fire crews arrived minutes later, sixty-seven firefighters attacked the inferno, protected nearby structures, and searched the helicopter wreckage.
At the bus scene, NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik heard it might have been a news helicopter. He saw a reporter from another station in tears. He checked in with colleagues: "Are you OK? It's not you guys, is it?" All other stations confirmed their helicopters were safe. As the realization spread through the close-knit Southern California news community that it was NBC4's chopper, Kovacik's voice broke. Around 9 p.m., anchor Colleen Williams delivered the news to viewers, her own voice audibly distressed: "We can now confirm that the chopper that went down in Chatsworth tonight, about two hours ago, was in fact News Chopper 4." The station temporarily switched to other programming.
Five people were dead. Two bus passengers. One reporter. One pilot. One pedestrian. Mayor Karen Bass visited the scene that night. "This is a very, very, very tragic day in Los Angeles," she said. "We lost five Angelenos today." On Thursday, Bass and City Councilmember John Lee held a vigil honoring Daniel Castillo, Gage Weida, Eliana Moreno, George Marciniw, and Edy Gutierrez Mejia. Castillo's family would not celebrate Weida's birthday as planned—they would attend his funeral instead. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration began investigating the helicopter crash, with a preliminary report expected within thirty days. Rios, the SUV driver, was wheeled into court on a stretcher, deemed medically unfit for arraignment. Her bail was set at 4.1 million dollars. Captain Silverman reflected on the weight of it all: "It'll be a long road ahead for people to recover from this."
Citations marquantes
To have two incidents of that significance in that short amount of time within a few blocks of each other is definitely a unique situation for any department.— Captain Brandon Silverman, Los Angeles County Fire Department
This is a very, very, very tragic day in Los Angeles. We lost five Angelenos today.— Mayor Karen Bass
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