LA Church Honors 3 Crash Victims at Mass for NBC4 Pilot George Marciniw

Q: What chilling secret did the live broadcast audio reveal moments before the veteran pilot's helicopter plummeted?

The broadcast audio appears to have captured a sudden in-flight emergency: the helicopter’s engine could be heard winding down, a cockpit warning horn blared — likely a low-rotor-RPM alarm — and reporter Eliana Moreno was heard saying, “uh oh,” followed by, “You can’t pull up?” moments before the feed cut out. That audio is significant because investigators and outside aviation experts say it suggests a possible loss of engine power or another mechanical failure while the aircraft was hovering at low altitude. NTSB officials said the recording includes tones consistent with pilot advisories and sounds consistent with the engine changing speed. Experts reviewing the footage said the horn most likely warned that the main rotor was no longer spinning fast enough to keep the helicopter safely aloft. In that situation, a pilot may try an autorotation emergency maneuver, but specialists noted that hovering low over the scene would have left very little altitude or forward speed to recover. So the “chilling secret” revealed by the live audio was not a hidden personal detail, but evidence that the crew likely realized in real time that the helicopter was losing power and could not climb before it fell.

3 articles · Updated · KABC-TV · Sep 21

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Los Angeles held its first mass since last week's Chatsworth helicopter crash, honoring NBC4 pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno.
Father Koshik said Marciniw grew up in the parish and was "one of our own," underscoring how deeply the pilot was rooted in the church community that gathered to mourn him.
The crash killed 3 people in all — Marciniw, Moreno and 29-year-old bystander Edy Gutierrez Mejia — after the NBC4 helicopter went down while covering a news story.
Friends and family used the weekend memorials to recall Marciniw's love of flying and Moreno's early jobs and devotion to Los Angeles sports, widening the portrait of the victims beyond the accident.