Remembering Eliana Moreno: The Legacy of NBC LA’s “Eli in the Heli”

Key Takeaways

• Eliana Moreno, longtime aerial reporter for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52, died September 15, 2026, in a helicopter crash in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, while covering a traffic collision.
• Her pilot, veteran aviator George Marciniw, and a third person on the ground also died in the crash.
• Moreno had covered Southern California from the air since September 2010, becoming known to viewers and followers as “Eli in the Heli.”
• She graduated from Chapman University in 2010 with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science, and had said she knew she wanted to be a TV journalist since age 11.
• She was engaged to Robert Barrientos, having announced their engagement in October 2025, and is remembered by colleagues as a source of steadiness during breaking news coverage.
• The crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

A Career Built in the Air

Eliana Moreno spent 16 years reporting Southern California’s biggest breaking news stories from above — traffic collisions, wildfires, police pursuits, and everything in between — for NBC4 Los Angeles and its sister station, Telemundo 52. She worked for Angel City Air Inc., the company that operates News Chopper 4, from September 2010 until her death.

Colleagues at Telemundo described her as, in their words, “the best airborne reporter in all of Los Angeles,” praising both her professionalism and her role as a calming, dependable presence in the newsroom during chaotic live coverage.

Moreno had wanted to be a television journalist since she was 11 years old. Rather than starting in a smaller regional market, as is common in local news, she moved directly into the Los Angeles market immediately after graduating from Chapman University in 2010 with dual degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. Before that, she anchored and reported in both English and Spanish for outlets in Orange County, where she was born and raised.

“Eli in the Heli”

Moreno’s Instagram handle, “Eli in the Heli,” became something of a personal brand among Southern California viewers who followed her aerial coverage and off-duty posts — sunsets over the city, long shifts during breaking news, and glimpses of life alongside her flight crew. In 2023, after working 76 hours over the course of several days covering a story, she wrote that she couldn’t complain because she had “the best job in the world.”

She and pilot George Marciniw began flying together in 2023 and developed a close working partnership, often crediting each other in the images and footage they shared publicly. Marciniw, who had more than 30 years of flight experience and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974, frequently attributed the photos on his own social accounts to “his companion and colleague, Moreno.”

Personal Life

Moreno announced her engagement to Robert Barrientos on October 28, 2025. She was also a mother. Friends and followers have described her as someone who balanced the demands of a physically and mentally grueling job — she guest-spoke at local high schools and colleges to aspiring journalists in her time off — with a full life outside the newsroom.

The Crash

The helicopter crashed the evening of September 15, 2026, between two buildings in Chatsworth while the crew was providing live coverage of a fatal collision between a bus and an SUV just blocks away. Three people died, including a person on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating; no official cause has been determined at this time.

A Community in Mourning

Tributes poured in from colleagues, viewers, and fellow journalists across Southern California within hours of the confirmation. NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 both issued statements honoring Moreno’s professionalism and her years documenting the region’s biggest stories from above.

Who was Eliana Moreno?

Eliana Moreno was an aerial reporter for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52, known as “Eli in the Heli,” who covered Southern California breaking news from a news helicopter for 16 years. She died on September 15, 2026, alongside pilot George Marciniw in a helicopter crash in Chatsworth, Los Angeles.