NBC REPORTER ELIANA MORENO KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH LESS THAN A YEAR AFTER HER ENGAGEMENT

Eliana Moreno had spent years flying above Los Angeles, reporting breaking news from the sky. On the night of September 15, the NBC reporter was covering another tragedy when the helicopter carrying her crashed — killing her, the pilot and a man on the ground.

Moreno, a 38-year-old aerial journalist for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52, was aboard NewsChopper 4 when it went down in Chatsworth shortly before 7 p.m.

Pilot George Marciniw was also killed.

A third person, identified by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner as 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia, died on the ground. Two other people were hospitalized following the crash.

The tragedy came less than a year after Moreno had announced her engagement to Robert Barrientos.

SHE WAS BUILDING A FUTURE

Moreno announced her engagement in October 2025, sharing footage from a trip to Nashville where Barrientos proposed.

At the time of her death, the couple had been engaged for less than a year.

Friends and colleagues now remember Moreno not only as an accomplished journalist but as someone who was excited about her future outside the newsroom.

PEOPLE reported that Moreno loved animals and was known among colleagues for her enthusiasm, warmth and dedication to journalism.

Her social-media nickname, “Eli in the Heli,” reflected the unusual career she had built.

For years, she had been one of the familiar faces in the skies over Southern California.

THE FLIGHT THAT NEVER CAME HOME

On September 15, Moreno and Marciniw were sent into the air to cover a deadly collision involving a Metro bus and an SUV in Chatsworth.

Several news helicopters were covering the incident.

NewsChopper 4 was among them.

Then, shortly before 7 p.m., the helicopter crashed between commercial buildings near North Mason Avenue.

The aircraft caught fire, and more than 70 firefighters responded to the scene.

NBC4 later had to report its own devastating news to viewers: the station had lost two members of its news team.

Moreno and Marciniw had worked together in the helicopter since 2023 and had logged hundreds of hours in the air covering major Southern California stories, including the devastating January 2025 wildfires.

INVESTIGATORS ARE NOW LISTENING TO HER FINAL FLIGHT

The National Transportation Safety Board has begun investigating the crash alongside the Federal Aviation Administration.

Investigators say footage and audio captured during the helicopter’s final moments could prove critical.

According to the NTSB, investigators heard sounds consistent with the helicopter’s engine changing speed, along with tones that may have been cockpit advisories.

The agency is obtaining a high-quality copy of the broadcast recording for detailed sound analysis.

At this stage, investigators have not determined what caused the crash.

The evidence will need to be analyzed before officials can establish what went wrong.

“THEY LOVED BEING IN NEWS CHOPPER 4”

Moreno’s colleagues have struggled to process the loss.

NBC4 anchor Lynette Romero said Moreno and Marciniw were an important part of the station’s family.

“They were both doing what they loved so much,” Romero said, describing the comfort she found in knowing how passionate they were about breaking news and flying in NewsChopper 4.

Moreno was also a bilingual journalist, reporting for both NBC4 and Telemundo 52.

Her career included years of covering police pursuits, wildfires, traffic incidents and other breaking stories from above.

She graduated from Chapman University in 2010 with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science.

A LIFE THAT WAS STILL MOVING FORWARD

To viewers, Moreno was the reporter who appeared above Los Angeles when something major was happening.

To her colleagues, she was much more than that.

She was a friend.

A teammate.

A journalist who loved her work.

And to Barrientos, she was the woman he planned to marry.

Their engagement had been announced only months earlier.

Now, instead of preparing for a wedding, her loved ones are mourning her loss.

The investigation into the crash will continue, and federal investigators are examining every available piece of evidence to determine what happened during Moreno and Marciniw’s final flight.

But while investigators work to reconstruct those final moments, the people who knew Moreno are remembering everything that came before them.

A reporter who loved the sky. A woman who had just begun planning her future. And a life that ended while she was doing the job she loved.

Moreno was 38 years old.