NTSB says engine speed changes could be heard before NBC LA helicopter crash
A recording from the NBC Los Angeles helicopter that crashed and killed three people captured sounds consistent with changes in engine speed and possible pilot advisory tones, according to federal investigators. The NTSB called the footage its most important evidence so far.
Investigator-in-charge Fabian Salazar said at a briefing on Wednesday that investigators would obtain a pristine copy of the recording and send it to the National Transportation Safety Board’s recorders laboratory for sound spectrum analysis.
“That video is probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far,” Salazar said. “In that recording, we are clearly hearing sounds that are consistent with the engine changing its speed.”
He said investigators could also hear tones “that are likely advisories to the pilots.” The cause of the crash has not been determined.
The recording came from the helicopter’s coverage of a deadly collision between an SUV and a bus in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. The station’s stream showed the helicopter slowly descending toward the ground, with reporter Eliana Moreno heard talking to pilot George Marciniw before the feed cut off.
Salazar identified the aircraft as an Airbus Helicopters AS350B2, registration N358TV, which was operating on a news-gathering flight. It crashed at about 7 p.m. on Tuesday and sustained substantial damage.
The helicopter came down in a parking lot between two commercial buildings, where the aircraft and nearby vehicles were engulfed in flames.
Moreno and Marciniw, who were covering the SUV-bus crash for NBC LA and Telemundo 52, were killed aboard the helicopter. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the person killed on the ground as 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia. A fourth person was taken to a hospital with no physical injuries but in a state of shock.
Salazar said NTSB investigators, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel and representatives of the helicopter’s airframe and engine manufacturers were examining the wreckage and gathering factual information. Investigators were also conducting witness interviews.
He asked anyone with information about either the vehicle collision or the helicopter crash to email witness@ntsb.gov.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
