Delta flight clips another plane on taxiway at Atlanta airport, knocks off smaller plane’s tail
(ATLANTA) — A Delta jet clipped a smaller plane on a taxiway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday morning, tearing the tail off the smaller plane, officials said.
Delta Air Lines Flight 295, which was en route to Tokyo, was taxiing for takeoff when its wingtip hit the tail of Endeavor Air Flight 5526, which was headed to Louisiana, knocking the Endeavor plane’s tail off, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and Delta.
The incident unfolded at the intersection of two taxiways around 10:10 a.m., the FAA said.
No one was injured on either plane, according to Delta and the airport.
“There is minimal impact to airport operations,” an airport spokesperson said in a statement.
“Passengers from one of the aircraft are being bussed from the incident to the concourses,” the spokesperson said. “The second aircraft taxied under its own power to a concourse where passengers will deplane at their gate.”
(NEW YORK) — The estate of a Titanic researcher who was among the five people killed when the Titan submersible catastrophically imploded while on a deep-dive voyage to the site of the famous shipwreck last year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking more than $50 million in damages.
The lawsuit, filed by the estate of French explorer Paul Henri Nargeolet, accused OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who also died in the implosion, and others of gross negligence by designing, building and operating Titan “in almost every way, in a manner outside the norms of the diving community and industry, driven by Rush’s apparent obsession with being remembered for innovation alongside such luminaries as Steve Jobs and Elon Musk” and to cultivate an image as a “maverick genius” of the deep-sea diving world.
The lawsuit also alleged crew members aboard the doomed vessel knew they would die before the June 2023 implosion and experienced “terror and mental anguish.”
“While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening,” the lawsuit stated. “The carbon-fiber hull was cracking under extreme pressure — prompting the pilot to release weight and attempt to abort. Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.”
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Washington state, where OceanGate is based. The submersible company suspended all exploration and commercial operations after the deadly implosion.
An OceanGate spokesperson had no comment.
Nargeolet’s estate relied in part on public reporting about the questions experts raised concerning Titan’s safety prior to its fateful final dive, including warnings the vessel was not built to hold up over time to the challenges of deep-sea expeditions.
“Decedent Nargeolet knew that the Titan was different from other submersibles in that it was constructed from carbon fiber and used other unusual materials and components. However, Nargeolet was not an engineer, a submersible designer, or a physicist” and, the lawsuit claimed, appeared to have the “false impression about the safety and seaworthiness of the vessel” based on Rush’s word.
“Nargeolet may have died doing what he loved to do, but his death — and the deaths of the other Titan crew members — was wrongful,” the lawsuit stated.
Nargeolet, known as “Mr. Titanic,” was the director of underwater research at RMS Titanic, which owns the salvage rights. The adventurer had participated in 37 dives to the wreckage of the Titanic, including the first expedition in 1987 shortly after the ship’s location was discovered.
In addition to Nargeolet and Rush, those killed on the vessel included British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.
The attorneys representing Nargeolet’s estate said this was the first lawsuit filed in connection with the Titan implosion.
“We are hopeful that through this lawsuit we can get answers for the family as to exactly how this happened, who all were involved, and how those involved could allow this to happen,” Tony Buzbee, one of the attorneys in the case, said in a statement.
The U.S. Coast Guard is scheduled to conduct a formal hearing starting Sept. 16 in South Carolina for the Marine Board of Investigation to consider evidence related to the loss of the Titan.
In June, the Coast Guard said the investigation into the implosion was taking longer than anticipated, calling it a “complex and ongoing effort.”
(NEW YORK) — Harvey Weinstein’s criminal sexual assault case is scheduled to return on Wednesday to a Manhattan courtroom — and if Weinstein shows up he will be arraigned on a new indictment.
The charges remain sealed until Weinstein appears. The former movie mogul missed his last court date after being rushed to the hospital for emergency heart surgery.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office presented to the grand jury allegations of three separate women who said Weinstein sexually assaulted them. Their allegations were not part of the initial trial of Weinstein that ended in a conviction, which was later overturned on appeal.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement earlier this year, when the conviction was overturned.
Weinstein has denied all claims of sexual misconduct, saying his encounters were consensual.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Charges were filed in juvenile court against the 17-year-old boy arrested in connection with the shooting of San Francisco 49ers’ player Ricky Pearsall, according to prosecutors.
The teen is facing three charges: Attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and attempted second degree robbery charge.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the city has been “traumatized and it’s now my job and my office’s job to make sure that we have accountability.”
The DA’s office does not make the determination if the juvenile will be tried as an adult, however, Jenkins can request a fitness hearing in front of a judge but a decision has not been made yet if the hearing will be requested.
The teen is set to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon at the Youth Guidance Center in San Francisco.
San Francisco Police Department is looking for every possible camera that captured the incident and actively collecting and reviewing to put together timeline, officials said.
Pearsall was released from the hospital 24 hours after being shot during an attempted robbery in San Francisco’s Union Square.
The 23-year-old rookie “sustained a bullet wound to his chest,” the 49ers said in a statement.
“He is extremely lucky,” Pearsall’s mom, Erin Pearsall, wrote on Facebook.
“By the grace of God, Ricky Pearsall is here with the team and doing really well,” said John Lynch, general manager of the San Francisco 49ers. “He’s doing remarkably, so much better today than he was yesterday. Really, really miraculous. Didn’t touch organs and feels like all the nerve stuff is good. I mean, it’s pretty, pretty remarkable.”
Lynch said Pearsall was luggage shopping for game day road trips before he was attacked in Union Square and that the team has rallied around Pearsall since the shooting.
“We had a team party that was scheduled when I got to the hospital and visited with Ricky,” Lynch said. “We were able to pipe Ricky into the party and he FaceTimed the entire group and and that show of love and respect was … a real special moment for our team.”
“Just super happy, super happy that he’s alive,” said 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. “We’re able to see him and talk to him.”
“Thank god Ricky’s alive and he’s healthy and he’s going to make a full recovery,” said 49ers offensive lineman Jake Brendel.
On Monday, the National Football League added Pearsall to the reserve/non-football injury list, stating he will miss at least four games of the season, according to ESPN.