NBC Reporter Eliana Moreno Dies in Helicopter Crash Less Than a Year After Engagement

NBC reporter Eliana Moreno, 38, and pilot George Marciniw died Tuesday when their News4chopper crashed in Los Angeles while covering a Metro bus collision. A pedestrian on the ground also perished in the incident.

Moreno had announced her engagement to Robert Barrientos on social media on October 28, 2025, approximately a year before the crash. She was a veteran aerial reporter who worked for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52. Telemundo released a statement mourning the loss of their colleagues, describing Moreno as "the best airborne reporter in all of Los Angeles."

Moreno began working for Angel City Air Inc., the operator of the News4chopper, in September 2010. She graduated from Chapman University in 2010 with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. Before joining NBC, she worked for KCAL 9 and KCBS 2. She began flying aboard NewsChopper4 around 2018 or 2019, primarily covering police pursuits, brush fires, and traffic incidents from the air. In 2022, she received a Radio Television Digital News Association award for her coverage of a fatal crash in Windsor Hills.

In May of the previous year, Moreno completed the Orange County half marathon in under two hours with Barrientos, a feat she pursued after setting a New Year's resolution to run one mile, despite suffering from asthma.

Live-stream footage captured before the crash appeared to show the helicopter struggling, with audible whirring noises from the engine. A voice, believed to be Moreno's, was heard asking the pilot to "pull up." The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.