The doomed NBC helicopter that crashed in LA may have been caught in a terrible predicament because of the flight conditions the aircraft encountered while covering a bus crash, experts have warned.

Those in the industry say the helicopter could have been snagged in a “dead man’s curve,” a theoretical area where a chopper has little altitude or airspeed, making it highly difficult to salvage a landing with an emergency autorotation maneuver.

“That’s the worst place to be if you have a problem,” Jeff Guzzetti, a former National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigator, told the LA Times.

The exact airspeed and altitude of the NBC helicopter, a Eurocopter AS 350 B2 Ecureuil, at the time of what has been considered an engine failure is unknown.

But the news helicopter appeared to be stationary and floating just a few hundred feet above the ground while it covered a Metro bus collision.

Standard procedure for an engine failure in helicopters is to perform an autorotation maneuver. Autorotation is done by intentionally lowering the helicopter to generate rotor speed by forcing air upward.

But a helicopter with little airspeed or height can struggle to generate the necessary rotation, Jack Cress, a former helicopter pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps and a helicopter accident investigation instructor at USC’s Aviation Safety and Security Program, said.

“He’s in the worst part of the height-velocity curve,” Cress said. “That is a dangerous place to be.”

A video of the crash offers some clues as to what reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw experienced as the helicopter went down. An alarm is heard beeping along with a whirring sound, which appeared to be akin to an engine slowing.

“You can hear something mechanical that is winding down in the background,” Guzzetti noted about the video. “It does seem like something mechanical suddenly happened to the helicopter while it was in stable flight.”

Moreno is then heard saying, “Uh-oh.”

The helicopter then rapidly descends and shudders. The news reporter asks if Marciniw can pull up.

“Can you… you can’t pull up?” she said.

The video ends with the chopper heading closer and closer to the ground until the video feed cuts out.

The crash killed Moreno, Marciniw, and a pedestrian on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. A fire erupted from the crash site, prompting firefighters to fight and put out the blaze.

NTSB investigator-in-charge Fabian Salazar called the video the “most important piece of evidence we have recovered so far.”

He also noted that the NTSB can hear “sounds that are consistent with the engine changing its speed, and we’re also hearing tones that are being generated that are likely advisories to the pilot,” in the video.

The NTSB and FAA are examining the wreckage and interviewing witnesses.

Investigators will also seek surveillance footage from nearby buildings and review the helicopter’s maintenance logbooks, weather conditions, and the pilot’s training.

The wreckage will later be moved to a secure facility for further examination.

Salazar said a preliminary report is expected in about 30 days, while a final report identifying probable cause could take up to 18 months.

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