NTSB report details final moments before Chatsworth news helicopter crash

A preliminary NTSB report describes the final moments before an Angel City Air Airbus AS350 B2 helicopter, NewsChopper4, crashed Sept. 15 just before 7 p.m. at 9151 Mason Ave. near Nordhoff Street in Chatsworth while covering a bus crash. The crash killed pilot George Marciniw, reporter Eliana Moreno and Edy Gutierrez Mejia on the ground. It had maneuvered above the scene about an hour and 24 minutes after leaving Whiteman Airport in Pacoima. During the last minute the helicopter was about 800 feet above ground and decelerated to about six knots, then entered a rapid right-turning descent with final groundspeed about 38 knots, the report said. Moreno's recording captured changing engine and rotor noise and warning horns in the last 29 seconds. She asked, "You can't pull up?" just before it struck a metal storage container, landed partly on its right side and burst into flames. The fuselage was mostly reduced to ash and thermally damaged metal. Reports differ on departure time (about 6:25 p.m. or 5:25 p.m.) and hover time (1 hour 24 or 25 minutes). NTSB investigator Fabian Salazar said the recording shows sounds consistent with the engine changing its speed and tones likely advisories to the pilot. The preliminary report does not determine the cause.