Los Angeles, Sept 16: A horrific helicopter tragedy occurred in Los Angeles, USA, on Tuesday evening. A news helicopter used by the major news channel ‘NBC News’ lost control and crashed into a parking lot while providing live coverage of a bus accident site. At least three people died, and another was seriously injured in this terrible tragedy.
Tragedy During Live Broadcast: The incident took place around 7 PM while the helicopter was filming—from the air—a fatal collision between a bus and an SUV that had occurred earlier that morning in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley. Upon learning of the crash during the live broadcast, news anchor Colleen Williams announced the news with a choked voice and halted the transmission.
Footage of the crash was recorded by a camera installed inside the helicopter. The video shows the helicopter, which was flying over the accident site, suddenly shaking violently before plummeting to the ground. The impact of the crash into the parking lot of a large building completely mangled the helicopter and ignited fires in four cars and two storage containers located there.
It is not yet clear exactly how many people were on board the helicopter. The fire department stated that at least one of the deceased was a person on the ground in the parking lot. Early Tuesday morning, a speeding SUV had violently collided with a Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus; that horrific accident resulted in two deaths and six injuries. The helicopter was covering that very location from the air.
High-level investigation: The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have launched an investigation to determine whether the crash was caused by a technical malfunction in the helicopter or by adverse weather conditions.
Rescue operations at the scene: More than 50 fire department personnel rushed to the site to extinguish the fire; they are currently clearing the helicopter wreckage and gathering evidence.