The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office has officially ruled that NBC4 aerial reporter Eliana Moreno died from blunt force trauma in the Sept. 15 helicopter crash in Chatsworth, a finding that also noted thermal injuries and smoke inhalation as contributing factors.

Moreno, 38, was aboard the station's NewsChopper4, an Airbus AS350 B2, alongside pilot George Marciniw when the aircraft went down while the crew covered a Metro bus collision for NBC4 and Telemundo 52. The crash killed both crew members and a 29-year-old bystander on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. The medical examiner listed Gutierrez Mejia's cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head, the New York Post reported.

Marciniw's cause of death has not yet been made public. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are still investigating what brought the helicopter down, and no confirmed mechanical cause has been released.

Moreno's examiner report lists fire and smoke as contributing conditions

Beyond the primary finding of blunt force trauma, the medical examiner flagged "thermal injuries and inhalation of products of combustion" as other significant conditions that may have contributed to Moreno's death. The language points to a post-crash fire, though the examiner's office has not released further detail on the sequence of events aboard the aircraft.

The crash occurred live on-air. Moreno and Marciniw had been flying together since 2023, the Washington Examiner reported, covering breaking news across the Los Angeles basin. Moreno was known on-air as "Eli in the Heli" and had built a following as one of the station's most visible aerial reporters.

Marciniw, a Southern California native, is believed to have had more than 30 years of flight experience and had recently been discussing retirement, Breitbart reported. The crash represents one of the deadliest incidents in a long history of fatal news helicopter accidents in a city that pioneered "eye-in-the-sky" journalism.

In a statement following the crash, NBC4 and Telemundo 52 said they were "deeply saddened" by the loss, Fox News reported.

"We are deeply saddened to share that a helicopter providing aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 was involved in a fatal accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also weighed in, saying his "hearts are with the victims and families of tonight's devastating Metro bus and helicopter crashes in Chatsworth, and with the entire NBC4 family."

Veteran helicopter pilot questions five-second delay before impact

Zoey Tur, a longtime Los Angeles helicopter pilot and former pilot-reporter for KCBS and KNBC, reviewed video of the crash and offered a pointed assessment. Tur said the footage showed an apparent loss of rotor speed while the helicopter was in a hover and estimated a roughly five-second delay in the pilot's reaction, a gap that, in Tur's view, may have turned an in-flight emergency into a fatal crash.

Tur did not hold back about the analysis, saying:

"I think there was a good chance the aircraft could have been brought down safely if the pilot reacted quickly enough."

Tur added: "I'm going to get a lot of heat over this, but I'm a reporter; this is my experience, and I'm seldom wrong when it comes to these situations." The comments remain Tur's professional opinion, not an official finding. The NTSB and FAA investigations are ongoing, and neither agency has publicly confirmed or denied the rotor-speed theory.

The cause of the crash is a critical open question. Until the federal investigators release their findings, the public is left with expert speculation and grief, but no definitive answers about what went wrong aboard the Airbus AS350 B2 that afternoon. Fatal aircraft crashes routinely take months or longer to resolve through federal investigation, and families are often left waiting.

SUV driver faces second-degree murder charges in the bus collision that drew the helicopter crew

The helicopter was in the air that day because of a separate disaster on the ground. A Metro bus collision in the Chatsworth area had drawn news crews across the city. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman charged 36-year-old Bailee Lynn Rios with two counts of second-degree murder, driving while intoxicated, and reckless driving in connection with that bus crash, which killed two people.

Rios allegedly drove an SUV into the side of a Metro bus at a high rate of speed. She was also allegedly high on drugs at the time, with drugs found in her vehicle. The criminal case against Rios is separate from the helicopter crash investigation, but the two events are inextricable: Moreno and Marciniw were in the air covering Rios's alleged crime when their aircraft went down.

That chain of events, an alleged drunk and drugged driver plowing into a city bus, killing two passengers, and setting off the chain of coverage that put a news helicopter over Chatsworth, makes five deaths traceable to a single reckless act. The DA's charges reflect the seriousness of the conduct. Violent offenders who leave destruction in their wake deserve the full weight of the justice system, and Hochman's decision to bring second-degree murder charges signals that his office intends to pursue accountability.

A family remembers a reporter who chased her dream since age 11

Moreno's brother, Johan Moreno, posted a tribute to his sister on X after the crash. The family's words painted a picture of a woman who had known exactly what she wanted to do with her life from childhood.

"Since she was 11 years old, Eliana dreamed of becoming a news reporter. Through hard work and courage, she turned that dream into a reality."

The family said they found "comfort in knowing that Eliana left this world doing the very thing she loved, pursuing the passion she carried with her since she was a little girl." They added: "We are infinitely proud of her and feel incredibly blessed to have had the privilege of loving her and calling her ours."

Moreno leaves behind five brothers and sisters, a fiancé, stepchildren, and dogs. In a 2023 Instagram post, she had written about working 76 hours straight and still loving her job: "I can't complain though because I have the best job in the world." She once reflected on her role by saying, "It just goes to show the power that we have from being the eye in the sky." Sudden, devastating losses like these remind the public that the people who bring us the news sometimes pay the highest price for doing so.

Gutierrez Mejia, the 29-year-old bystander killed on the ground, has received far less public attention. He was simply in the wrong place when the helicopter came down between two buildings. His family has not made public statements included in available reporting. A fourth person on the ground was injured, according to Fox News.

Five people are dead, two on a bus, two in a helicopter, one on the ground, because of what prosecutors say was one driver's reckless, intoxicated decision. Tragedies of this scale demand answers, and the families of every victim deserve them.

The medical examiner has done its part. Now it is up to the NTSB, the FAA, and the Los Angeles County DA's office to finish theirs.