NBC Los Angeles news helicopter crash kills three in Chatsworth

Los Angeles, United States. An NBC Los Angeles news helicopter crashed in the Chatsworth area on Tuesday evening, killing three people and injuring two others, according to NBC and the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The aircraft was identified on air by NBC Los Angeles anchors as the station’s NewsChopper 4 helicopter. The crash occurred shortly before 7 p.m. in Chatsworth.

Casualties and response

Five patients were assessed at the scene, with three pronounced dead and two taken to hospital, the Los Angeles Fire Department said at a news conference shortly after 9:30 p.m. local time.

At least one of those killed was outside in a parking lot next to a commercial building, the fire department said. It was not immediately clear whether the other two people who died were on the ground or inside the helicopter.

NBC anchors did not say how many people had been aboard the aircraft.

Crash near earlier bus collision

The helicopter crash occurred after a collision earlier on Tuesday involving a Los Angeles Metro bus and a passenger vehicle in the area, which killed at least two people.

Media reports said several television news helicopters had been covering the bus collision when the NBC helicopter crashed. The aircraft reportedly burst into flames near a storage building in the San Fernando Valley.