Woman Who Caused Accident Prior To Helicopter Crash Charged

A Los Angeles woman under the influence of drugs was speeding the wrong way down a busy avenue, ran a red light and slammed into a city bus Tuesday, killing two passengers, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged her with murder. A television news helicopter covering the wreck then crashed, killing both people aboard and a man on the ground.

Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, faces two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. Rios was being held on $4.1 million bail. Hochman said Rios was impaired when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way, struck another vehicle and then plowed into the bus.

The helicopter crash killed pilot George Marciniw, reporter Eliana Moreno and Edy Gutierrez Mejia, who was on the ground. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the aircraft caught fire.

Reporter Eliana Moreno, pilot
George Marciniw

Surveillance video obtained by NBC4 Los Angeles shows the helicopter dropping from the sky at a slight diagonal and landing behind trees and other objects, followed by a plume of black smoke and flames. Investigators said they had no immediate cause, but significant clues could come from the crew’s final broadcast seconds. An alarm can be heard in the cockpit as the helicopter loses altitude. Just after the beeping starts, a woman’s voice says “uh oh.” The aircraft moves quickly away from the bus crash and continues to lose altitude. The woman then says, “You can’t pull up?” before the video ends as the chopper nears the ground.

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm suggests a possible loss of engine power and a dangerous drop in main rotor speed, and that the pilot appeared to be trying an emergency maneuver to use the wind to force the rotor to spin again.

Moreno and Marciniw worked for helicopter contractor Angel City Air and provided aerial coverage for co-owned NBC4 and Telemundo 52.