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A tragic detail has come to light after an NBC reporter lost her life in a fiery helicopter crash in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Eliana Moreno, 38, who was also known as 'Eli in the Heli', was among three people killed when a NBC4 news helicopter crashed between two commercial buildings at around 7PM on the 9100 block of Mason Avenue, setting several nearby cars on fire.
Firefighters arriving on the scene found the helicopter and several cars burning, close to the scene of an earlier bus accident.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, per the New York Post, one of the people killed is believed to be a bystander, with the other two being on board the helicopter. Another person was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
As the incident unfolded, Colleen Williams, a news anchor at the station said live on air: "We have lost contact with our people."
The victims were later confirmed to be Moreno and the pilot, George Marciniw, after the News4chopper crashed while covering a deadly Metro bus collision in Chatsworth.
Their deaths were confirmed by Telemundo 52, where Moreno also worked, in a statement reading: "Tonight, we are in mourning. We are heartbroken. We have lost two great colleagues.
"Eliana Moreno was a wonderful human being. Her professionalism was impressive. Everyone who worked with her knew she was - without a doubt - the best airborne reporter in all of Los Angeles."
The network praised her for being "on top of everything" and a "source of comfort" as they expressed their sorrow at her passing.
Moreno had aspired to be a television news reporter from the age of 11, going on to graduate from Chapman University in 2010 with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. She had worked for Angel City Air Inc — the company operating the News4chopper — since September 2010.
She went on to work for KCAL 9 and KCBS 2 before joining NBC, covering police pursuits, traffic events, and brush fires from the air since around 2018.
Moreno had gushed that being an aerial journalist was "the best job in the world" after winning an award for her work.
Following her death, it was also revealed that she had got engaged less than a year ago to Robert Barrientos, sharing the happy news on October 28, 2025.
She wrote alongside a video capturing the moment in Tennessee: "I will remember this trip to Tennessee for the rest of my life."
According to harrowing live-stream video that emerged afterward, the helicopter was seen struggling, with whirring noises heard coming from the engine.
A woman, believed to be Moreno, was heard telling the pilot to "pull" before adding: "What? You can’t pull up?" The footage then appeared to shake seconds before the helicopter crashed.
It is not yet known what caused the fatal crash, but veteran pilot Zoey Tur believes, based in the footage and audio, that it could have been down to an engine failure.
She told the New York Post: "If you listen, you could hear the low rotor RPM annunciator horn going off. You could also hear the engine rev down.
"This was an engine failure, and slow response into entering an auto -rotation by PiC. No survivors."
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash.
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