3 people killed when news helicopter crashes while covering LA bus accident

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined by other officials walk to a news conference near the scene of a helicopter crash in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Ethan Swope/AP hide caption

LOS ANGELES — A news helicopter crashed in a Los Angeles neighborhood on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing at least three people while reporters were covering the collision of an SUV and a city bus, officials and the news outlet said.

Colleen Williams, an NBC4 Los Angeles anchor, confirmed during live broadcasts that two people were killed when the chopper went down. At least one other person was killed on the ground, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

"We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, process it," Williams said, her voice shaking with emotion. Moments later the coverage cut off.

The helicopter, used by NBC and Telemundo, went down near a large storage facility in the neighborhood of Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley, officials said. News crews were reporting on a collision from earlier in the day, when an SUV slammed into the middle of a city bus, killing at least two people and injuring six others. Photos and videos online showed half the SUV lodged in the side of the bus.

"From the helicopter itself, it's pretty well destroyed," Capt. Branden Silverman, a spokesperson for the fire department, said. "So we are going to have to go through the rubble and see how many victims there were on board, as well as identify the helicopter; we couldn't even see a tail."

At least four cars and two storage containers on the ground burned after the helicopter caught fire, which was quickly put out, according to officials. NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik was at the bus scene and saw black smoke and rushed to the helicopter crash site. Dozens of police cars surrounded the scene as ambulances entered.

Two people were brought to a hospital, said Rico A. Gross, a fire department battalion chief. Their conditions were not immediately released.