Driver in LA bus crash that preceded helicopter tragedy charged with murder

An SUV driver accused of being high on drugs when she plowed into a Los Angeles city bus has been charged with murdering two passengers in a crash that preceded a second tragedy when a news helicopter covering the scene went down, killing three more people.

Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, was speeding Tuesday when she allegedly drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue, struck another vehicle, ran a red light and slammed into the bus, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Thursday.

Prosecutors allege Rios was under the influence of drugs at the time.

She has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder over the deaths of bus passengers Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31.

Rios was being held on $4.1 million bail and was due to appear in court Friday. Court records did not list an attorney representing her, while the public defender's office said it had not been appointed to the case.

The tragedy was compounded when a news helicopter covering the bus crash later plunged to the ground.

Pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno were killed along with Edy Gutierrez Mejia, who was on the ground. At least four cars and two storage containers caught fire following the crash.

Investigators have not determined what caused the helicopter to go down.

Video broadcast from the aircraft captured an alarm sounding in the cockpit as the helicopter began losing altitude.

"Uh oh," a woman's voice can be heard saying.

"You can't pull up?" she says moments later, shortly before the footage ends.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar described the recording as "probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far."

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm could indicate a loss of engine power and a dangerous drop in the helicopter's main rotor speed. The pilot appeared to be attempting an emergency maneuver designed to get the rotor spinning again, he said.

The NTSB is investigating both the helicopter crash and the bus collision.

Moreno and Marciniw worked for helicopter contractor Angel City Air and provided aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52.

Hundreds of people gathered in Los Angeles' Chatsworth neighborhood Thursday night for a candlelight vigil honoring the five people killed in the two crashes.

Castillo's daughter, Johaunna Castillo, said her father had been traveling home from his job at a car-parts warehouse aboard the same bus he took every day.

"The back was his favorite seat," she said. "He liked people-watching."

Castillo would normally call his daughter after work each day. On Tuesday, he told her he was getting on the bus and would call again while walking home.

She described her father as a hardworking and lively man who brought "a lot of joy and love into people's lives."

Rios's mother, Cindy Rios, previously said she was shocked and saddened by the events and had not spoken to her daughter since her arrest.

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 reports.