NBC LA’s Chopper 4 was a Eurocopter AS 350 B2 Ecureuil, the same helicopter family involved in at least six fatal crashes worldwide this year.
The aircraft, registration N358TV, went down last week while covering a collision between an SUV and a Metro bus in Los Angeles, killing reporter Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw, and ground pedestrian Edy Gutierrez Mejia. The 2004-manufactured chopper had undergone major airframe repairs in August 2023, including a door modification, new equipment list and weight and balance revision, according to FAA maintenance records. Its registration remained valid through December 2028.
Veteran helicopter pilot and former news reporter Zoey Tur analyzed crash footage and identified critical warning signs. “If you listen, you could hear the low rotor RPM annunciator horn going off. You could also hear the engine rev down,” Tur wrote in a social media post, adding that she owned two similar helicopters herself.
Tur continued her assessment in a follow-up post. “This was an engine failure, and slow response into entering an auto – rotation by PiC. No survivors,” she wrote.
The final moments inside the chopper were captured on audio. Moreno is heard coordinating coverage with Marciniw as the aircraft circled the area for roughly an hour before its uncontrolled descent. “Can we plan our spot, George?” Moreno says at the start of the recording.
The tone shifts abruptly as alarms trigger. “Uh oh,” Moreno says. Then, as the helicopter shudders and the camera shakes: “Can you… you can’t pull up?” The video cuts out as the chopper plummets.
The Aérospatiale AS 350 Écureuil family, which first entered production in the 1970s with the B2 variant following in 1990, has accumulated nearly 400 flight incidents in the United States alone since January 1980, per Aviation Safety Network data. This year’s fatal crashes span multiple continents: a Germany crash in August, a May crash in China, a May hunting trip crash in New Zealand that killed two, and a February Kenya crash that killed six.
The most high-profile incident involved a Eurocopter AS 350B2 Ecureuil that collided mid-air with a Bell 206B JetRanger III carrying Californian singer Oliver Tree and his entourage in Rio de Janeiro in June. That crash killed six people, including Tree, passengers Lucas Vignale, Gaspar Prim (Argentinian YouTuber Gaspi), and Lucas Brito Chaves, plus pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac. Tree had boarded in Recreio dos Bandeirantes before the helicopters slammed together over an electric car lot, igniting at least 20 vehicles.
The FAA and NTSB are jointly investigating the NBC LA crash, with the NTSB leading the inquiry. A preliminary FAA accident report listed three fatalities “UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES” and noted a post-crash fire. The helicopter’s flight data showed it had circled the coverage area for approximately an hour before the fatal descent.
Airbus Helicopters, which now manufactures the Ecureuil line, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The wreckage has drawn fresh scrutiny to a platform that has served news stations and civilian operators for decades, even as the accident history accumulates across global fleets operating the same fundamental design.