2 dead after small plane crashes into homes in Simi Valley, California
KABC
(SIMI VALLEY, CA) — A small, home-built kit airplane crashed in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday afternoon, damaging two homes, catching fire and killing two people onboard, officials said.
The Vans RV-10 that crashed near High Meadow Street and Wood Ranch Parkway around 2:10 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The pilot died in the crash, Ventura County Fire Department Public Information Officer Andrew Dowd told reporters at a news conference. A passenger also died, the department later said in a statement.
“Simi Valley PD in coordination with the medical examiners office has verified there were two passengers in the aircraft, both of whom were fatally injured in the accident,” the fire department said in a statement.
Some 40 firefighters were dispatched and put out the flames, according to the fire department.
There were people inside the two homes at the time of the crash, but they were not hurt, Dowd said.
Shelby Joice told ABC News she lives across the street from where the plane crashed. She said she and her mother were watching TV when they heard what sounded like a helicopter passing over.
“All of a sudden, we heard a big crash and our entire house started shaking. We actually thought something crashed into our house,” Joyce said.
She said they witnessed a “big, massive fireball” and black plumes of smoke.
The plane departed from William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster and was heading to Camarillo Airport, according to the FAA.
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation and work with the FAA.
Simi Valley is located about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
ABC News’ Matthew Holroyd contributed to this report.
(HOUSTON) — NASA’s oldest active-duty astronaut has returned to Earth after spending more than seven months in space, telling reporters he still feels “like a little kid inside” despite turning 70 during his mission.
During a press conference Monday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, veteran astronaut Don Pettit reflected on his latest 220-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
“It’s good to be back on planet Earth. As much as I love exploring space, going into the frontier and making observations and doing the mission, you do reach a time where it’s time to come home and here I am,” Pettit said.
The accomplished astronaut has now accumulated 590 days in space over four missions, ranking third on NASA’s all-time list. As an Expedition 71/72 flight engineer, Pettit orbited Earth 3,520 times and traveled more than 93.3 million miles before returning aboard a Russian-made Soyuz spacecraft on his 70th birthday.
While in orbit, Pettit conducted hundreds of hours of scientific research. His investigations focused on enhancing metal 3D printing capabilities in space, advancing water sanitization technologies, exploring plant growth under different water conditions and studying fire behavior in microgravity.
“I want to do things in space that you can only do in space, and I’ll worry about catching up with TV programs and things like that after I come back. So, that’s that aspect of why I spent time in space working on a science of opportunity, getting to one of my favorite experiments,” Pettit said.
Pettit explained that astronauts spend most of their time on the ISS “taking things apart and fixing it.” He said the work “involves mechanical skills, it involves electrical skills, it involves fluid skills. These are the exact kinds of things that I love to do in my spare time.”
The seasoned astronaut described spending three hours fixing a $12 razor aboard the ISS. He said he wasn’t trying to save money; he just loves tinkering with things.
An avid photographer, Pettit took over 670,000 photos while on the ISS, often sharing his images on social media. He said he wanted to share the experience with others and used his camera to tell the story of his mission.
“I could look out the window and just enjoy the view, but when I’m looking out the window just enjoying the view, it’s like, ‘Oh, wow. A meteor. Oh, wow. Look at that. Man, there’s a flasher. What’s that? And, oh, look at that. A volcano going off.'” Pettit said. “And it’s like, okay, where’s my camera I got to record that. And part of this drive for me is when your mission is over, it’s photographs and memories.”
Pettit credits his trainers and flight doctors for helping with his recovery and getting his body reacclimated to Earth’s gravity. While he is happy to be home, the 70-year-old says there are advantages to living in space.
For the septuagenarian astronaut, space offers unique benefits beyond scientific discovery. Petit loves that being in space makes him feel 30 years old again.
“You’re floating, and your body, all these little aches and pains, and everything heal up, and you feel like you’re 30 years old again and free of pain, free of everything, and ready to do your mission work. So, I love being in orbit. It’s a great place to be for me and my physiology,” he said, suggesting that even at 70, space exploration remains within reach.
Ilya Kukhar, 26, was charged on Thursday for impersonating an ICE officer after he allegedly drove a vehicle that “displayed prominent emblems with large letters spelling ‘I.C.E’ along with a pseudo-seal of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” the Fife Police Department said in a statement on Thursday.
At approximately 5 p.m. on March 16, police responded to a 911 call of a “suspicious vehicle at the Emish Market,” a Ukrainian grocery store in Fife, Washington, officials said.
The vehicle, which had no license plates, was identified as a black 2019 Ford SUV and was later confirmed to be a former patrol car for the Tukwila Police Department, officials said.
The presence of the vehicle “appeared intentional, targeting a Ukrainian grocery store” which indicated a “deliberate effort to intimidate and draw attention to itself,” police said.
Witnesses told officials that the “occupant(s)” of the vehicle were “recording employees and customers on video, causing alarm and concern,” police said.
Once police arrived on the scene, the vehicle left, officials said.
The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed that the vehicle was not an official DHS unit, leading the police — in coordination with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations Seattle field offices — to look into this incident, officials said.
In response to a bulletin posted by the Fife Police Department, officials in Tukwila “identified the vehicle as one of their former patrol cars,” officials said.
Previously, it had been “removed from their fleet after being involved in a collision,” officials said. Once it was no longer in service with the City of Tukwila, an insurance company sold it to a private buyer, police said.
After “numerous tips” and the assistance of Tukwila Police, the “primary suspect in this case” was identified as Kukhar, officials said. Police have not said if there are other suspects involved.
Kukhar, who is “not employed by any federal law enforcement agency,” has been charged with one count of Criminal Impersonation in the Second Degree.
He is currently not in police custody and his initial arraignment is scheduled for April 11, officials said.
(GUANTANAMO BAY) — Attorneys representing at least one of 17 alleged Venezuelan gang members who were deported Sunday to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison say the men were sent there two days after a federal judge issued an order prohibiting such deportations.
A federal judge on Friday blocked a Trump administration policy allowing the deportation of migrants to countries other than their own without giving them a chance to argue their removal in immigration court — although it’s unclear whether those deported on Sunday would have been protected by the order.
In his ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy blocked the removal of any individual subject to a final order of removal from the United States to a third country other than the country designated for removal in immigration proceedings unless they are given written notice and the opportunity to “submit an application for protection.”
The ruling was issued two days before the Trump administration sent 17 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.
Among the 17 alleged gang members sent to El Salvador was Maiker Espinoza Escalona, who was being held in the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo after being deported from the U.S.
Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the ACLU, told ABC News he has serious concerns about what he called the government’s “sudden allegations” against Escalona that precipitated Escalona’s being sent to CECOT.
“He and others being sent to the Salvadoran prison must be given due process to test the government’s assertions,” Gelernt said.
A White House official told ABC News that the 17 alleged gang members who were deported to El Salvador were not deported under the Alien Enemies Act that was used to send more than 200 alleged gang members to El Salvador last this month, but under different authorities, including Title 8.
The announcement of the “counter-terrorism operation” from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, included no mention of the authority the administration used to deport the 17 individuals.
“DHS’ routine failure to provide meaningful notice and opportunity to present a fear-based claim prior to deportation to a third country has led to hundreds of unlawful deportations, placing individuals at serious risk of persecution, torture, and/or death,” attorneys for the detainees said in a complaint last week.
Escalona, who entered the U.S. on May 14 and requested asylum, filed a sworn declaration in early March in which he stated that he was not a gang member and asked the government not to send him to Guantanamo.
“I believe that I am at risk of being transferred because I have a final order of deportation and am from Venezuela,” Escalona said in the sworn declaration. “I also believe that I am going to be transferred to Guantanamo because of my tattoos, even though they have nothing to do with gangs. I have twenty tattoos.”
Authorities have said they use tattoos to help identify gang members. Escalona, who said in his declaration that he had been in immigration detention in El Paso, Texas, since May 22, listed his tattoos that he said include a cross, a crown, the ghost icon for the social media app Snapchat, his niece’s name, and the word “Faith” in Spanish.
“I do not want to be transferred to or detained at Guantanamo. I am afraid of what will happen to me when I get there,” Escalona said in the declaration. “I want access to an attorney to help me get out of detention and figure out what options I have in my immigration case.”
“If I am transferred to Guantanamo, I will be separated from my family,” he said.
The government opposed Escalona’s request for a temporary restraining order prohibiting his deportation to Guantanano, Gelernt told ABC News.
“The government opposed our request for TRO on the ground that he was not in imminent danger of being sent from the U.S. to Guantanamo, but told the Court they would alert it within 2 business days if he or other Plaintiffs were transferred to Guantanamo,” Gelernt said. “The government has apparently chosen to use a loophole and transfer him on a Friday night, thereby avoiding notice to the Court at this point. He has apparently now been transferred to the notorious Salvadoran prison.”
According to Escalona’s sworn declaration and the ACLU, his partner is currently detained in El Paso and his 2-year-old daughter is under the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
