NBC reporter Eliana Moreno was killed Tuesday when the news helicopter she was riding in crashed and burst into flames in the Los Angeles area, less than a year after she announced her engagement.
Moreno, 38, had proudly revealed her engagement to Robert Barrientos in a social media post on Oct. 28, 2025, with friends and loved ones celebrating the couple.
The veteran aerial reporter worked for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 and was aboard NewsChopper 4 with pilot George Marciniw when the helicopter went down while covering a deadly Metro bus crash in Chatsworth.
Moreno and Marciniw were both killed. A pedestrian on the ground also died.
Telemundo confirmed their deaths and shared an emotional tribute.
“Tonight, we are in mourning. We are heartbroken. We have lost two great colleagues,” the network said.
“Eliana Moreno was a wonderful human being. Her professionalism was impressive. Everyone who worked with her knew she was — without a doubt — the best airborne reporter in all of Los Angeles.”
The network said Moreno was always “on top of everything” and described her as a “source of comfort” to those around her.
Moreno had dreamed of becoming a television news reporter since she was 11 years old.
She graduated from Chapman University in 2010 with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science.
That same year, she began working for Angel City Air Inc., the company that operated NewsChopper 4.
Moreno later worked for KCAL 9 and KCBS 2 before joining NBC and beginning regular flights aboard NewsChopper 4 around 2018 or 2019.
She became known for covering police pursuits, brush fires, traffic incidents and breaking news from the air.
On Instagram, she called herself “Eli in the Heli.”
Her reporting also earned recognition.
Moreno received a Radio Television Digital News Association award in 2022 for her aerial coverage of a deadly crash in Windsor Hills.
She later shared a photo of herself holding the award alongside pilot Robert Rodriguez.
Moreno often wrote about how much she loved her career, once calling aerial journalism “the best job in the world.”
Outside of work, she was also celebrating major personal milestones.
In May, Moreno revealed that she had completed the Orange County half marathon in under two hours alongside her fiancé, Barrientos.
The accomplishment was especially meaningful because Moreno said she had started 2026 with a much smaller goal.
Despite suffering from “bad asthma,” her New Year’s resolution was simply to run one mile by the end of the year.
“The first week of January, I decided to start trying to run my one mile,” she said. “I did it on my first try, and even though I felt like I was going to die, I felt like I could do more.”
She continued training and eventually completed the 13.1-mile race.
“I surpassed everything I thought I could ever do so let’s see what I do next,” she said.
Just two months after Moreno announced her engagement, Marciniw posted a photo of himself with Moreno standing in front of their news helicopter while wishing followers a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
On Tuesday, the two were covering another deadly accident when disaster struck.
Moreno was reporting on a crash that had already killed two people and injured six others when NewsChopper 4 apparently experienced trouble.
The helicopter crashed into a parking lot between two warehouses and erupted into a massive fire.
Disturbing live-stream footage reportedly captured the helicopter struggling in the moments before impact.
Whirring noises could be heard as the aircraft appeared to lose control.
A woman believed to be Moreno could reportedly be heard telling the pilot to “pull” before asking, “What? You can’t pull up?”
Seconds later, the video began shaking before the helicopter crashed.
Authorities have not yet determined what caused the aircraft to go down.
Veteran pilot Zoey Tur publicly speculated that the helicopter may have suffered an engine failure.
“If you listen, you could hear the low rotor RPM annunciator horn going off,” Tur wrote online. “You could also hear the engine rev down.”
Tur said she believed the aircraft suffered an engine failure and that there may have been a delayed response in entering autorotation, an emergency maneuver helicopters can use following engine trouble.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash.
Moreno’s death has left colleagues, viewers and loved ones mourning a reporter who had spent years covering emergencies from above and who had described the job she loved as the best in the world.