Add The New York Post on Google A livestream from the NBC news helicopter that crashed and burst into flames in LA showed its final moments as it violently shook and fell from the sky, killing someone on the ground along with both staffers onboard.
A horn warning highly experienced pilot George Marciniw that the aircraft was stalling wailed as its engine slowed – seconds before disaster on Tuesday, harrowing video which surfaced online shows.
“Uh, oh,” veteran NBC4 Los Angeles aerial reporter Eliana Moreno shouted, reacting to the alarm.
The helicopter’s low rotor RPM annunciator horn blared for a couple of seconds before the chopper lost altitude.
“Pull,” a panicked Moreno said. “You can’t pull up?”
There was a violent shaking on the livestream and the siren wailed once again before the feed cut out — seemingly at the point the helicopter crashed near some Chatsworth warehouses at around 7 p.m.
Horrified witnesses told how the helicopter’s sudden drop in altitude was unusual.
“I saw the helicopter – something didn’t look right,” Zareh Sevanesian told NBC News.
“And I told my wife, ‘That helicopter is not flying right.’”
Marciniw, who had logged more than 14,000 hours in the helicopter, and Moreno were killed, as was a pedestrian on the ground.
An explosion sent residents fleeing and they darted for cover to avoid being hit by shrapnel.
The crash also resulted in a huge fire and four vehicles caught fire.
“It was one of the most violent fires I have ever seen,” Sevanesian said.
He recalled how three people nearby were “screaming uncontrollably,” horrified by what had happened.
Moreno and Marciniw were up in the air covering a deadly bus crash that happened nearby.
The cause of the crash is being investigated but Zoey Tur, a veteran helicopter pilot, said the signs pointed towards an engine failure.
