NBC news helicopter crashes and kills at least 3 in LA neighborhood

First responders work the scene after a helicopter crashed near a bus crash in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Ethan Swope/AP hide caption

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Ethan Swope/AP

LOS ANGELES — A helicopter crashed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, killing at least three people near a deadly bus crash, officials said.

Another person was taken to the hospital, but their condition was not immediately clear, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

It was not immediately clear whether some of the people killed in the crash had been on the helicopter. At least one person killed was outside in the parking lot, Capt. Branden Silverman, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said during a news conference.

"We're trying to determine how many patients were inside the helicopter," he said.

The helicopter crashed into a parking lot, into or next to some parked vehicles, Silverman said. The parking lot is for a large one-story building, but the type of business was not immediately clear.

More than 50 firefighters responded to the helicopter crash, according to the fire department. The fire had damaged four vehicles and two storage containers, but was out by Tuesday evening, according to officials.

Silverman described the helicopter as "pretty well destroyed" and said they're going to have to go through the rubble to see how many victims were on board.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will be handling the investigation.

Earlier in the day, two people were killed and six others were injured after an SUV crashed into a city bus in Los Angeles, officials said. Photos and videos online showed around half of an SUV lodged into the side of a MTA bus and a large group of fire crew working around the crash.