Three killed in Los Angeles helicopter crash

A helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday evening in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles, killing three people and injuring a fourth near the scene of an earlier deadly Metro bus crash, fire officials said.

The aircraft went down in the San Fernando Valley community between commercial buildings near the 9100 block of North Mason Avenue, according to Los Angeles firefighters. The crash site was at or near a self-storage facility, and video from the scene showed the wreckage in a parking lot. CBS News reported the helicopter appeared to have landed on top of two shipping containers and several parked vehicles.

Fire crews and police were already nearby because of a separate collision involving a Los Angeles Metro bus and a passenger vehicle on Nordhoff Street. The Los Angeles Fire Department said that crash happened at 5:03 p.m. and that firefighters had been working to free trapped people and assess bus passengers. Two people were killed and others were injured in that collision, according to the department.

Fire Capt. Branden Silverman said emergency personnel rushed to the helicopter crash and found the aircraft engulfed in flames. The fire spread to nearby parked vehicles.

Three people were pronounced dead at the scene of the helicopter crash, fire officials said. A fourth person was taken to a hospital in unknown condition.

At least one of the people killed appeared to have been on the ground when the helicopter went down.

“We do have one confirmed patient that seemed to be outside of the helicopter when it crashed,” Silverman said. “That person was declared deceased on scene…. At this point, we have not confirmed how many victims, or how many people, were inside the helicopter.”

Firefighters later said two other people were declared dead at the crash site. After the fire was extinguished, firefighters and Los Angeles police placed a canopy over one body, CBS News reported.

The identity of the helicopter and the station or operator it belonged to were not immediately clear. CBS News described it as a Los Angeles news helicopter but reported that it was still not clear which news station the aircraft belonged to.

“The helicopter itself, it’s pretty well destroyed, so we are going to have to go through the rubble and see how many victims there were on board as well as identify the helicopter,” Silverman said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The Los Angeles Fire Department said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be involved in the investigation. Fire officials said both agencies were contacted to assist, and Los Angeles police are also investigating.