A couple weeks ago, 21-year-old Traffic News LA reporter Juan Manuel rode along with veteran news helicopter pilot and instructor George Marciniw as he covered large waves in Long Beach.
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“It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had,” Manuel said.
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, the aspiring aerial reporter paid his respects to “the best pilot and the funniest guy,” as a tight-knit community of news pilots and reporters, along with the Ukrainian Catholic Church family mourned Marciniw’s death.
Marciniw, an NBC4 news pilot, and reporter Eliana Moreno died in a helicopter crash Tuesday, Sept. 15, while on assignment in Chatsworth.
Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974.
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The pair began flying together in 2023. On Tuesday night they were covering a triple fatal SUV-Metro bus crash when their helicopter crashed near the 9100 block of Mason Avenue. Ely Gutierrez Mejia, a 29-year-old bystander on the ground, was also killed in the crash.
Officials said another person was injured.
Manuel said Wednesday that he heard about the NBC4 helicopter crash through the police scanner on Tuesday night and was devastated to hear that the victims were people he had worked closely with and admired.
Manuel decided to be aerial reporter because of Eliana Moreno, saying that he interacted with her multiple times, giving her news tips from what he heard on the police scanner.
“It’s one of my dream jobs because of her and her reporting skills.”
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Los Angeles posted on social media that Marciniw was a parishioner. The Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles also posted that the experienced pilot and aviation instructor was a member of its organization.
“We are devastated to learn about tragic death of our parishioner and dear friend George Marciniw,” the church post read. “May he rest in peace!!”
The Rev. Ihor Koshyk said Marciniw grew up attending the church and was a pillar of the church community. He said everyone knew Marciniw and Marciniw knew everyone.
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“He was a curious person with an open and generous heart,” Koshyk said. “Just looking for opportunity to be helpful to people.”
Koshyk said Marciniw was proud of his news piloting and often shared stories from work. Koshyk recalled taking flights with Marciniw, including one memorable flight with a visiting bishop from Chicago, over the Santa Monica Mountains, downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood.
“He shared this,” Koshyk said. “He loved people to see what he’s doing. He loved to show people what he saw from that helicopter, from that sky.”
When he heard the news Tuesday night of a crashed helicopter Koshyk at first did not believe Marciniw could have been involved given his extensive experience as a pilot and teacher.
“It was just hard to believe,” Koshyk said.
Marciniw grew up as a proud member of the proud Ukrainian community in Los Angeles after his parents fled Europe after World War II. Koshyk said since the crash he’s been taking calls and calling fellow parishioners about Marciniw.
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“He grew up here in this parish and everybody knew him and he knew everybody,” Koshyk said. “That smile was always there. Just a good person, loved people, loved what he did.”
Flowers lined the fence at Whiteman Airport on Wednesday where the NBC4 helicopters were parked Wednesday as people who knew Marciniw and Moreno visited throughout the day to pay their respects.
George Kapoyan, a close friend of Marciniw, stood at the fence lining the runway of the Whiteman Airport, looking at where the NBCLA Channel 4 helicopter would have been parked.
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“I’d bring my kids to the airport to see him take off,” Kapoyan said, noting that for his son’s fourth birthday, Marciniw took the time to show him the helicopter and how it worked.
“Just a few weeks ago, George was flying over Burbank, where I live, and my son was so excited knowing it was him up there,” Kapoyan said. “Whenever I saw the Channel 4 helicopter, I’d text him and say, ‘I see you up there.’”
Kapoyan first met Marciniw 15 years ago when he wanted to learn how to fly. A mutual friend connected him with Marciniw and that jumpstarted Kapoyan’s aviation hobby.
“My first introduction to flight was with George,” he said. “We flew a lot together and over the years, we became friends.”
When Kapoyan heard of the crash late Tuesday night, his first thought was that it must have been a “freak accident.”
“One thing we all knew about George was that he was the safest pilot you could ever find,” he said. “That’s what makes it so tragic — tragedy can happen in the hands of the safest pilot.”
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Kapoyan said that with his aviation knowledge and experience flying with Marciniw, he believes the crash must have been caused by mechanical failure.
“Having known George (and) having known how seriously he took safety, it had to have been mechanical,” he said. “Someone with 14,000 plus hours doesn’t just drop from the sky.”
Kapoyan himself actually stopped flying seven years ago when he had children, knowing the dangers of flying. And, he said that he does not think news helicopters need to be flying as much as they do, covering “every little thing.”
“The less we’re up there, the more we can reduce the risk of a catastrophic event like this,” Kapoyan said. “I don’t know if they needed to be up there. It could’ve been a ground shot. I wish it would’ve been a ground shot; he’d still be here today.”
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