Chatsworth Victims Named as NTSB Maps 18-Month Probe

Investigators identified all five Chatsworth victims as the NTSB said its helicopter crash final report could take up to 18 months.

The Los Angeles County medical examiner's office also identified the two people killed in the earlier Metro bus crash as Gage Weida, 31, and Daniel Castillo, 46, of Arleta. That brings the day's toll to five, matching Mayor Karen Bass's statement that the city 'lost five Angelenos today.' Investigators were on the scene Wednesday morning probing the Eurocopter AS 350 B2 wreck.

That long runway means the families of photojournalist Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw, and Gutierrez Mejia may wait more than a year for official answers. Senior air safety investigator Fabian Salazar said video recorded inside the chopper moments before impact will be key evidence and is being sent to the recorder's lab for sound spectrum analysis.

The helicopter's live broadcast captured its final moments: the engine sound winds down, a low-rotor alarm beeps, and Moreno is heard asking 'You can't pull up?' before the feed cuts. Salazar said the recording contains sounds consistent with the engine changing speed and tones that are likely pilot advisories. Veteran helicopter pilot Zoey Tur told the Los Angeles Times that the microphone appears to pick up the engine shutting down, followed by the low rotor RPM warning horn, though why the rotors stopped is unknown. Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti told AP it has the earmarks of a loss of engine power.

The helicopter was one of several aircraft covering a collision at Nordhoff Street and De Soto Avenue around 5 p.m., when police say Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley drove her SUV the wrong way, ran a red light, and slammed into a Metro bus, killing two passengers and injuring up to six. She was booked on suspicion of murder and held on $4 million bail, with the case forwarded to the district attorney for review. Her mother, Cindy Rios, told AP she was shocked, saying 'If anything, I'm sorry for the other families.'

Anchor Colleen Williams confirmed the crash on air before her voice broke, and Lynette Romero told TODAY the pair 'loved being in NewsChopper4.' According to the Los Angeles Times, this was NBC4's second aviation tragedy: former U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers died in a 1977 KNBC helicopter crash in Encino.

The NTSB is asking witnesses with video to submit footage as it builds its record, and its preliminary report is due within 30 days. The FAA said it will support the NTSB-led investigation. On the ground, prosecutors must decide whether to formally charge Rios, whose case remains under review by the district attorney's office. Community members, including Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, acknowledged the bus riders, Metro operators, and news crews all mourning after a day that left Chatsworth grieving five people from two connected tragedies.