By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics
Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath sent a letter to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford yesterday asking the agency to clarify whether its enhanced safety oversight at Whiteman Airport actually extends to helicopter operations — and, if it doesn’t, to start including them.
The letter, obtained by LACP, follows the September 15 crash of NewsChopper4, an Angel City Air helicopter based at Whiteman that was covering a fatal Metro bus collision in Chatsworth when it went down, killing pilot George Marciniw, NBC4/Telemundo 52 photojournalist Eliana Moreno, and a third victim on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation.
“However, the tragic helicopter crash in Chatsworth on September 15, 2026, which claimed the lives of three people, including the helicopter pilot and a journalist, has heightened concerns about the safety of helicopter operations in the communities surrounding Whiteman Airport,” Horvath wrote. “The helicopter involved in that incident was based at Whiteman Airport, and the National Transportation Safety Board has now begun its investigation.”
The letter follows up on Horvath’s June 16 correspondence to the FAA and the agency’s July 6 response, which outlined increased oversight of pilots, flight schools, and aircraft repair stations at Whiteman, including weekend inspections. Horvath’s new letter asks the FAA to clarify whether that enhanced surveillance includes ramp inspections of helicopters specifically, and requests details on the frequency and scope of any such inspections already underway.
“If helicopter operations at Whiteman are not currently subject to enhanced ramp inspections, given that the County has no authority to conduct such inspections, I ask that the FAA consider implementing these inspections as part of its ongoing safety response,” Horvath wrote, asking that any expanded review cover airworthiness and maintenance records, compliance with FAA directives, aircraft equipment, and operational procedures.
Horvath was careful not to get ahead of investigators.
“I recognize that the FAA and NTSB must allow the ongoing investigation into the September 15 crash to proceed based on the evidence, and I do not intend to prejudge its findings,” she wrote. “Rather, the purpose of this request is to determine whether additional preventative oversight can be undertaken while that investigation is underway.”
The letter marks a notably more measured approach than Horvath’s response to an earlier Whiteman crash in June, when she demanded the FAA suspend all flight operations at the airport pending a safety review. Wednesday’s letter makes no such demand, instead requesting a narrower clarification of an existing federal inspection program.
Horvath closed by invoking the surrounding communities directly.
“The residents of Pacoima, Sylmar, Chatsworth, and the broader San Fernando Valley deserve confidence that every reasonable federal safety measure is being considered to reduce risks associated with aircraft operations in this densely populated area,” she wrote.
The letter was copied to Raquel Girvin, the FAA’s Western-Pacific Region Regional Administrator. LACP has reached out to the FAA for comment on the letter and will update this story with any response.
