Three people were killed Tuesday when an NBC Los Angeles news helicopter crashed in the Chatsworth neighborhood while the crew was covering a separate bus collision on the ground. The victims, confirmed to include an NBC reporter and the aircraft's pilot, died at the scene. Authorities and federal aviation investigators have launched an inquiry into the cause of the crash.

The helicopter went down in the Los Angeles area as its crew was providing aerial coverage of a nearby bus collision that itself had resulted in fatalities. The dual incidents created a complex emergency response scene, with first responders addressing casualties from both events simultaneously.

Footage from the helicopter's own live broadcast captured the aircraft's final moments before the crash, offering investigators and the public a rare firsthand visual record of the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to examine the video as part of its investigation into what caused the aircraft to go down.

The crash draws renewed attention to the risks faced by news crews who routinely conduct aerial reporting over active emergency scenes. Helicopter journalism has faced scrutiny following several high-profile crashes over recent decades, and safety advocates are likely to call for a review of protocols governing how close news aircraft can operate to active incident zones.

The identities of all three victims aboard the helicopter were being released as next of kin were notified. NBC News issued a statement mourning the loss of its crew members. No timeline has been given for when preliminary findings from the NTSB investigation might be released.