American Airlines flight diverts to JFK after apparent bird strike damages engine
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(NEW YORK) — An American Airlines flight departing New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Thursday evening had to divert to nearby John F. Kennedy International shortly after takeoff after a reported bird strike caused damage to one of the aircraft’s engines.
The aircraft, powered by its second engine, landed safely and without incident shortly after 8 p.m., the Port Authority New York and New Jersey said. There were no reported injuries.
“The aircraft landed safely at JFK where it will be inspected by our maintenance team,” American said in a statement. “We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused.”
Charlotte, North Carolina-bound flight 1722 had 190 passengers and six crew members on board. The aircraft was an Airbus A321. Passengers were expected to board another flight to Charlotte on Friday morning.
(NEW YORK) — Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries and two others were arrested Tuesday as part of a criminal sex trafficking investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.
Jeffries, his partner Matt Smith and a third man, Jim Jacobson, are accused of operating an international sex trafficking and prostitution business that recruited young men for parties in the U.S. and abroad, according to an indictment.
The former retail executive and Smith relied on their vast financial resources, Jeffries’ power as the CEO of Abercrombie, and numerous people, including Jacobson and a network of employees, contractors and security professionals, to run a business “that was dedicated to fulfilling their sexual desires and ensuring that their international sex trafficking and prostitution business was kept secret,” the indictment alleges.
Federal prosecutors said the trio paid dozens of men to travel around the world to engage in sex acts. The indictment mentions 15 alleged victims, identified as John Does #1-15. Jeffries allegedly recruited, hired and paid a slate of household staff to “facilitate and supervise the Sex Events.”
Jacobson traveled throughout the United States and internationally to recruit and interview men for the so-called sex events. During “tryouts” of potential candidates, Jacobson required that the candidates first engage in sex acts with him, according to prosecutors.
The indictment said many of the men were coerced, led to believe that attending the events would yield modeling opportunities with Abercrombie or otherwise benefit their careers, or, in the alternative, that not complying with requests for certain acts during the sex events could harm their careers.
The defendants are charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution. They are expected to make appearances in the jurisdictions where the men were arrested in Florida and Wisconsin before they’re brought to Central Islip in Long Island, New York, at a later date for arraignment.
“We will respond in detail to the allegations after the Indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse – not the media,” Brian Bieber, an attorney for Jeffries, told ABC News on Tuesday.
Attorneys for the other two defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Abercrombie & Fitch declined ABC News’ request for comment.
Federal prosecutors had acknowledged the investigation in January after alleged victims filed a civil lawsuit a year ago.
Jeffries, who transformed Abercrombie from a traditional Ohio outfitter into a powerhouse teen fashion brand, has been accused in civil lawsuits of exploiting young men for sex at parties he hosted at his Hamptons estate in New York, London, Venice and elsewhere with his partner, Smith.
One of the plaintiffs, David Bradberry, a former crewman on the reality series “Below Deck,” said Jeffries made Abercrombie successful by the “oversexualization of young men.”
His lawsuit accused Jeffries, Smith, Jacobson and Abercrombie itself of luring attractive young men under the guise of making them an Abercrombie model and then forcing them to take drugs and perform sex acts.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Brad Edwards of Edwards Henderson, told ABC News in a statement: “As we laid out in our lawsuit, this was an Abercrombie run, sex trafficking organization that permeated throughout the company and allowed the three individuals arrested today to victimize dozens and dozens of young, aspiring male models.”
(NEW YORK) — The Minnesota Department of Transportation has issued a “no travel advisory” for highways in northwestern Minnesota as high winds cause dangerous blowing snow and low visibility.
Drivers in Minnesota and North Dakota should be prepared for intense bursts of heavy snow, wind gusts over 40 mph and visibility under one-quarter of a mile.
The cold front will move through the Minneapolis-St. Paul area during the afternoon and reach Chicago by the evening.
The cold front will head to the East Coast by early Thursday morning.
The heaviest snow from this quick-moving clipper system will be near the Great Lakes, where the shot of cold air will create heavy lake effect snow bands.
One to 2 feet of snow is possible from Michigan to upstate New York.
The clipper system will also bring 3 to 10 inches of snow from Massachusetts to Maine.
Up to 10 inches of snow is possible in the Appalachian Mountains in Maryland and West Virginia.
The Interstate 95 corridor — including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City — is not expecting any snow accumulation. But those major cities should be prepared for wind gusts reaching 50 mph.
(ALTOONA, Pa.) — The firearm found on the suspect in the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO is believed to have been an untraceable ghost gun, according to police.
Police have said they believe the gun was 3D printed, and that it had no serial number. The silencer may have been 3D printed as well, they said.
The ghost gun was discovered in suspect Luigi Mangione’s possession upon his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday. Police have not yet confirmed if it’s the same weapon used in Brian Thompson’s killing, but NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said it was “consistent with the weapon used in the murder.”
In a criminal complaint, Altoona Police Department officer said Mangione had “a black 3D-printed pistol and a black silencer,” which they described as having “a metal slide and a plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel.”
“The pistol had one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jacket rounds. There was also one loose nine-millimeter hollow point round,” the officers wrote. “The silencer was also 3D printed.”
Ghost guns, or privately made firearms without serial numbers, have surged in popularity in recent years. Due to the difficulty — or even impossibility — of tracing their origins, they can be an ideal weapon for those not legally permitted to own a gun, such as convicted felons or minors. Because of this, they are frequently the weapon of choice used in crimes.
Many ghost guns are homemade, typically 3D printed or assembled from kits that can be easily purchased online.
Due to their lack of serial numbers, it is impossible to know exactly how many exist, but thousands have been recovered from crime scenes in recent years.
About 45,240 suspected ghost guns were recovered from crime scenes between 2016 and 2021 — 692 of which were homicides or attempted homicides, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In 2022, the Department of Justice said it had “recovered 25,785 ghost guns in domestic seizures, as well as 2,453 through international operations.”
Though ghost guns are legal in the U.S., in recent years, lawmakers have begun pushing for stronger legislation to curb the proliferation of these firearms.
In 2022, President Joe Biden announced new measures that would require gun kits to include serial numbers — a move that has been swept up in litigation ever since as manufacturers fight regulation.
According to gun control advocacy group Everytown — which has called ghost guns the “fastest-growing gun safety problem facing our country” — there are 15 states that currently have laws governing the use of these firearms.
Many of these states require ghost guns to have serial numbers, and for their owners to go through background checks. Some require owners to disclose their ghost guns to officials.
