The driver was speeding and allegedly under the influence of drugs when she drove the wrong way down a street before ploughing into a city bus on Tuesday
The driver of an SUV that slammed into the side of a Los Angeles city bus before a TV news helicopter, that had been covering the collision, went down has been charged with murder by police. Bailee Lynn Rios was speeding and allegedly under the influence of drugs when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue and struck a vehicle before ploughing into a city bus on Tuesday (September 15), Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference, according to the Associated Press. Rios, 36, faces two charges of murder in the deaths of the two people on the bus, identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31.
Rios is now being held on $4.1 million (£3 million) bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday (September 18). Rios’ mother, Cindy Rios said she was shocked and saddened by what had happened, adding she had not spoken to her daughter since her arrest. As for the news helicopter crash, both people on board – pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno – were killed, as well as and a man on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the helicopter caught fire.
There were no immediate details on what caused the helicopter to go down, but investigators said significant clues could come from the last seconds of video the crew broadcast. In it, an alarm could be heard inside the helicopter’s cockpit as it lost altitude. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar said Wednesday that the video is “probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far.” Just after the beeping starts, a woman’s voice says “uh oh.” The helicopter moves quickly away from the bus crash site and starts losing altitude. The woman says “You can’t pull up?” before the video stops as the chopper nears the ground.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm suggests a potential loss of engine power and a dangerous decrease in the main rotor speed. He said the pilot appeared to be trying to perform an emergency manoeuvre to use the wind to force the rotor to spin again. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the bus collision. There have been at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the US since 2000, killing 16 people, according to a review of federal accident records and news accounts.
A vigil was planned for Thursday evening local time to remember those killed in both crashes.
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