“DESTROYED”
The fire department said the helicopter went down between two commercial buildings, damaging four vehicles and two containers.
“From the helicopter itself, it’s pretty well destroyed,” said Branden Silverman, a spokesman for the fire department.
“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; we couldn’t even see a tail,” he said.
The cause of the crash was unclear, but the National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was “absolutely devastated” by the incident.
“My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash,” she said in a statement.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52, another outlet using the helicopter, offered “heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives”.
Los Angeles, America’s second-biggest city, is a competitive and crowded media market, where TV stations compete aggressively for stories.
Many of them routinely make use of aerial coverage, sending helicopters into the city’s already busy skies to cover everything from fires to dramatic car chases.
There are usually two people on board a news media helicopter – the pilot and the reporter-camera operator who frequently reports live from the sky.
