DC plane crash: NTSB calls for immediate changes at Reagan airport
Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/ U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board chairman called for immediate changes at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, saying the current helicopter routes around the airport “pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety.”
Chairman Jennifer Homendy said the NTSB is recommending that the Federal Aviation Administration permanently ban helicopter operations near Reagan when runways 15 and 33 are in use.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has “restricted helicopter traffic from operating over the Potomac River at DCA until March 31,” Homendy said at a news conference Tuesday. “And I want to commend him for that and commend the work of the FAA to also take swift action.”
However, “as that deadline nears, we remain concerned about the significant potential for future midair collision at DCA,” she said.
Homendy outlined a history of close calls at Reagan and offered a solution as the NTSB continues to the investigate the devastating crash between an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed all 67 people on board both aircraft.
The crash happened on the night of Jan. 29 when the PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people on board, was about to land at Reagan (DCA). The three soldiers on the helicopter were conducting an annual training flight and night vision goggle check ride for one of the pilots at the time when the two aircraft collided. Both aircraft plunged into the Potomac River.
Between October 2021 and December 2024, there were 944,179 commercial operations at Reagan, Homendy said. During that time, there were 15,214 close proximity events between commercial airplanes and helicopters, she said.
Encounters between helicopters and commercial aircraft near Reagan show that, from 2011 through 2024, a vast majority of reported events occurred on approach to landing, she said.
Homendy said last month that there was no indication the helicopter crew involved in the January crash could tell there was an impending collision.
The soldiers may have had “bad data” on the altitude from their altimeter, as the pilots had differing altitudes in the seconds before the crash, Homendy said. One helicopter pilot thought they were at 400 feet and the other thought they were at 300 feet.
The transmission from the tower that instructed the helicopter to go behind the plane may not have been heard by the crew because the pilot may have keyed her radio at the same second and stepped on the transmission from ATC, the NTSB added.
The Black Hawk crew was likely wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight, Homendy said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW ORLEANS) — An Army veteran who was “hell-bent” on killing as many people as possible drove a rented pickup truck around a parked police car serving as a barricade and plowed through a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, leaving at least 15 dead and injuring dozens of others early Wednesday, city and federal officials said.
After mowing down numerous people over a three-block stretch on the famed thoroughfare while firing shots into the crowd, the suspect — identified by sources as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42 — allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News. Officers returned fire, killing Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen from Texas, sources said. At least two police officers were injured, one by gunfire and the other when the officer was pinned by the truck, authorities said.
Althea Duncan, assistant special agent in charge of FBI New Orleans field office, said investigators do not believe Jabbar acted alone.
“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” Duncan said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates. That’s why we need the public’s help. We are asking if anybody had any interaction with Shamsud-Din Jabbar in the last 72 hours that you contact us.”
Addressing what he called “this heinous act” in a brief appearance before reporters Sunday night at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, President Biden said that the FBI told him that “mere hours before the attack, [Jabbar] posted videos on social media indicating that he’s inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”
Biden also said “law enforcement and the intelligence community” were investigating whether there was “any possible connection” between the New Orleans attack and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck Sunday outside of the Trump Las Vegas hotel.
“Thus far, there’s nothing to report on that score,” Biden said.
Biden also said that the suspect was “an American citizen, born in Texas. He served in the United States Army on active duty for many years. He also served in the Army Reserve, until a few years ago.”
The FBI is studying the videos President Biden referenced in his remarks, which the suspect appears to have recorded while driving from Texas to Louisiana, law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News.
The videos are dark so the suspect isn’t seen but he can be heard talking about his divorce and a desire to kill members of his family before ultimately deciding to carry out the attack on Bourbon Street, according to the law enforcement sources.
The suspect is also heard talking about ISIS, the sources said.
A spokesperson for the consulting firm Deloitte confirmed to ABC News that Jabbar worked for the company in a “staff-level role” since 2021.
“We are shocked to learn of reports today that the individual identified as a suspect had any association with our firm,” the statement said. “Like everyone, we are outraged by this shameful and senseless act of violence and are doing all we can to assist authorities in their investigation.”
A separate source at Deloitte confirmed to ABC News that Jabbar was still employed by the consulting firm as of Sunday morning and had the job title of “senior solution specialist.”
The FBI offices in New Orleans and Houston released statements late Wednesday announcing searches related to the New Orleans attack.
“FBI special agents and our law enforcement partners are currently conducting a number of court authorized search warrants in New Orleans and other states,” the FBI’s New Orleans field office said in a statement, adding that they planned to hand over the New Orleans crime scene to local authorities by Thursday morning.
Meanwhile the FBI in Houston posted on X that they and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office were “continuing a court-authorized search of a location near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive.”
“At this time, no arrests have been made, and FBI personnel will be at the scene for several more hours,” the post continued.
New Orleans police have reviewed surveillance video that appears to show several people planting potential explosive devices in advance of the vehicle attack, which led them to believe he was not “solely responsible,” sources said. Investigators are urgently working to identify the individuals who were seen on camera and take them into custody.
Duncan said Jabbar was an Army veteran. In addition to the assault rifle, Jabbar was allegedly armed with a handgun, sources told ABC News.
Authorities are also working to determine whether there may be a link between the New Orleans attack and a Tesla Cybertruck explosion on Wednesday outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel in Nevada, which is being investigated as a possible act of terror, an official said.
Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas was rented on Turo — the same app sources said was used to rent the pickup truck used in the deadly attack in New Orleans.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters that investigators are trying to determine whether there is a connection to the New Orleans attack.
“We are heartbroken by the violence perpetrated in New Orleans and Las Vegas, and our prayers are with the victims and families,” a Turo spokesperson said in a statement in response to an ABC News request for comment. “We are actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents.”
“We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the statement continued. “We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards in risk management, thanks to our world-class trust and safety technologies and teams that include experienced former law enforcement professionals.”
New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna released a statement late Wednesday afternoon that said “As of now, 15 people are deceased.”
“It will take several days to perform all autopsies. Once we complete the autopsies and talk with the next of kin, we will release the identifications of the victims,” McKenna’s statement continued.
Rep. Troy Carter, D-Louisiana, told ABC News earlier Wednesday afternoon that the number of people killed in the incident had risen from 10 to 15. He said another 25 people were hospitalized with injuries.
On Wednesday afternoon, the FBI in Houston and the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office, posted a message on social media that they are “currently conducting law enforcement activity near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive in north Houston.”
“We have secured a perimeter in that area and are asking people to avoid the area,” the notice said. “FBI Houston personnel and specialized teams will be on-site for several hours. This activity is related to this morning’s New Orleans attack, but due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, no further information can be provided.
Security bollards not working at the time
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said during Wednesday’s news conference that security bollards were not working at the time because they were in the process of being replaced for the upcoming Super Bowl. She confirmed that the suspect drove on the sidewalk to get around a police car blocking the intersection.
“We did indeed have a plan but the terrorist defeated it,” Kirkpatrick said.
Duncan said improvised explosives devices (IEDs) and other weapons were found inside the pickup truck. She said two additional IEDs were discovered in the French Quarter and rendered safe.
The IEDs found in and around the scene on Bourbon Street were apparently determined to be viable and investigators were looking for more in the city’s French Quarter, multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC News. The FBI said two devices were found and rendered safe. Crude pipe bombs stuffed with coils and nails were found at the scene along with a grenade, sources said.
In a YouTube video posted in 2020, the suspected attacker said he was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and spent a decade working in the U.S. military before becoming a realtor in the Houston area. His years in the military, he said in the video that has since been removed from YouTube, were spent working as a human resources and IT specialist.
It appears that the truck the suspect rented was spotted in Texas on Tuesday, but it was not clear if the suspect was in the vehicle at the time, according to a source citing preliminary law enforcement information. An ISIS flag was attached to the vehicle’s rear hitch, Duncan said, adding that the FBI is trying to assess the suspect’s connection to the terror groups.
The Sugar Bowl between the University of Georgia and Notre Dame has been postponed from Wednesday night to Thursday, Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley announced at Wednesday’s news conference. The game was set to kickoff Wednesday night at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, where police remain focused on securing the French Quarter after the vehicle ramming attack.
Jason Williams, the district attorney of Orleans Parrish, which includes New Orleans, told ABC News that investigators are conducting a grid search to determine if other explosive devices were planted.
New Orleans police and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaco, Firearms and Explosives have cordoned a home believed to be an AirBnB in the St. Roch neighborhood about 2 miles from downtown. It was not immediately clear if the suspect is associated with the AirBnB rental.
Investigated as terror attack
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific incident a “terrorist attack” and the FBI said it was being investigated as an act of terror. The bloodshed comes on the heels of a deadly vehicle ramming attack in Germany. Fears of such attacks were a growing concern among law enforcement as well as attacks by lone actors at winter holiday events.
Police Superintendent Kirkpatrick said the driver had attempted to kill as many people as possible. The truck used in the attack appeared to be a F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle.
“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said at a news conference early Wednesday.
The New Orleans Police Department said the attack occurred despite the force being “staffed 100%” for New Year’s Eve and the Sugar Bowl, a college football game played annually on New Year’s Day. An additional 300 officers were on duty from partner agencies, the police department said.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the attack and has been in touch with Cantrell to offer support, according to the White House.
“I will continue to receive updates throughout the day, and I will have more to say as we have further information to share,” Biden said in a statement. “In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
President-elect Donald Trump posted a statement on his Truth Social platform, saying, “Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”
Local authorities asked the FBI for assistance early on Wednesday, a senior federal law enforcement source told ABC News. A command center was being set up, the source said. The FBI was set to lead the investigation.
‘Horrific act of violence’
“A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” Gov. Jeff Landry said, adding that his family was praying for the victims and first responders.
Witness Dan McFee said he had just walked out of his hotel to get an Uber and was standing on Canal Street near Bourbon Street, when he heard squealing tires and turned to see the white pickup truck turning onto Bourbon Street and heading right toward him and a female friend.
“It made a right-hand turn onto Bourbon and it was heading directly towards me and a female friend I had with me, and [I] basically wrapped my arms around her and threw ourselves to the right of the vehicle,” McFee told ABC News. “I don’t remember exactly if it hit me or some debris, but we were flown into the air and came down on the sidewalk. The vehicle did hit a gentleman that I was standing beside. While we were down on the ground, it appeared that he was breathing and then the woman behind him didn’t appear to be breathing and the vehicle continued down the road.”
Moments later, he said he heard gunshots.
Asked if he saw the driver’s face, McFee said, “All I could remember, and it’s replaying in my head, is seeing the front of the truck coming at us.”
McFee said he and his friend suffered bumps and bruises in the incident.
Asked if he saw the steel barricades up on Bourbon Street at the time of the incident, McFee said, “I don’t believe they were up. I didn’t see any that were up.”
“I was kind of surprised that the vehicle was able to get as far as it did just considering the amount of people that were on Bourbon Street,” McFee said. “They did have those metal gates that they were able to move back and forth. I don’t know if they were down just for the Uber drivers and the Lyft drivers to get through, but I don’t remember seeing them up.”
Witness Jimmy Cothran of New Orleans told ABC News that he and a friend were walking on Bourbon Street when the truck attack began. He said they ducked into a bar and within minutes, four frantic women pushed through security, rushed into the bar and hid under tables.
“When we got on the balcony, what we saw was insanity,” Cothran, a certified emergency medical technician, said. “I mean it was something out of a movie, the graphic nature of it. It was unbelievable. We instantly counted I’d saw 10 bodies, six clearly graphically deceased and the others yelling with no one around. Everyone had just cleared the street completely.”
Cothran said he tried to go out and help the injured but was stopped by security.
Another witness, who requested to be identified only as Paul S., told ABC News he was startled awake by the sound of what he initially thought was fireworks.
“Around 3:15 [a.m.], we heard a ‘pop, pop, pop, pop’ sound followed by a sound that sounded like fireworks going off, like big fireworks all at once,” Paul S. said. “Then it turned out that was the crash.”
He said he looked outside his hotel window and saw a chaotic scene, with bodies strewn on the street below.
“What I saw was, if you can imagine a street with brick and whatnot littered all around the sidewalk, and then there were bodies laid up next to garbage cans and people rushing to give aid,” Paul S. said.
He said he observed a man who had been thrown from his wheelchair lying on the ground next to the truck involved in in the attack writhing in pain.
“There was also a body underneath a scissor lift,” Paul S. said.
Truck rented through app
The Ford F-150 Lightning truck used in the attack was apparently rented through the Turo app — a car sharing company, according to Rodrigo Diaz, the owner of the truck. Diaz told ABC News he rented the truck to an individual through the app and is currently talking to the FBI. He declined further comment.
Diaz wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.
“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” Dora Diaz said.
Preliminary information put together by law enforcement indicates the truck apparently involved in the New Orleans attack was observed Tuesday in north Harris County, Texas, a source briefed on the investigation told ABC Houston station KTRK. The truck was seen in Harris County around 10:15 a.m. and again 11:10 a.m., the source said. Just after noon on Tuesday, the truck was spotted in Baytown, Texas, heading east on Interstate 10 in the direction of New Orleans, according to the source.
Law enforcement has not said whether the suspected attacker was in the vehicle when it was spotted in Texas.
Deploying ‘every available resource
Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed the FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. He said the the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana are working with local law enforcement and “will deploy every available resource to conduct this investigation.”
“The country woke up this morning to news of a terrible tragedy in New Orleans that killed at least 10 people and injured many more,” Garland said in a statement. “My heart is broken for those who began their year by learning people they love were killed in this horrific attack, and my prayers are with the dozens who were injured, including the New Orleans Police Department Officers who risked their lives to save others.”
Leading up to the holidays, federal law enforcement and intelligence had warned police around the country that low-tech vehicle ramming at public events was a key area of concern and that they needed to prepare — and that was before the German Christmas market attack on Dec. 20, in which five people were killed and hundreds were injured.
In a Dec. 9 assessment for the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, federal and local agencies wrote: “We remain concerned about the use of vehicle ramming against high-profile outdoor events…Vehicle ramming has become a recurring tactic employed by threat actors in the West, marked by a continued interest by (terrorists, extremists) and lone offenders in targeting crowded pedestrian areas.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(LOS ANGELES) — Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for MLB star Shohei Ohtani, is set to be sentenced Thursday on federal charges related to stealing nearly $17 million from the Dodgers player, nearly a year after the gambling controversy first surfaced.
Mizuhara, 40, admitted to fraudulently transferring the money from Ohtani’s account for more than two years to pay his gambling debts, including impersonating the athlete on two dozen occasions in calls to the bank, according to a plea agreement in the case.
Prosecutors called the scheme “deep” and “extensive” fraud and that Ohtani was “harmed substantially” by Mizuhara’s actions.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty last year to one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum of 30 years in prison, and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, which carries up to three years in prison. A sentence of 48 months was recommended by the probation officer.
Mizuhara, a permanent resident of the U.S., also faces a risk of deportation back to his native Japan upon completion of the federal sentence, prosecutors said.
Mizuhara asks judge for mercy
In a three-page letter to Judge John Holcomb filed ahead of Thursday’s hearing, Mizuhara asked for a “merciful and not punitive” sentence and set out to explain why he committed the fraud.
He described mounting financial stresses that he said led him to use an online sports betting website run by Mathew Bowyer starting in 2021. He said that due to his “ignorance to the gambling industry,” he did not realize it was an illegal gambling business until early 2024.
“Being desperate for money at the time, I stupidly thought this might be an opportunity to help myself out financially and started to use his website for sports betting. And before I knew it, the results were the complete opposite,” Mizuhara wrote. “My gambling debt had grown so much that I could not find any way to pay it but to use Shohei’s money … I felt terribly guilty about putting my hands on his money but this was the only solution I could think of at the time.”
Mizuhara also said that the offseason was “physically and mentally” harder while detailing some of his errands for Ohtani, such as driving him to trainings, taking his dog to the vet and fixing his bicycle — saying he had “almost no true days off.”
“I felt like I was getting severely underpaid but I was afraid to speak up for myself as I was on a one year contract every year and I didn’t want to upset them and end up getting fired,” he wrote.
Mizuhara said he hopes to use his experience to help others dealing with gambling problems. He also outlined the impact a prison sentence would have on his wife.
“I understand that I have made a decision that will impact my entire life and I am not making excuses for what I have done. I am not trying to justify my actions in any way. I am asking that you will look at me as a man and believe change can happen,” he said. “I don’t believe an apology will fix my wrong. I am prepared [to] accept my consequences. I am asking for a little mercy from the court concerning my sentence you will hand down.”
He lastly said he is “truly sorry” for violating Ohtani’s trust in him.
Defense, government make case for sentence
Mizuhara’s attorney asked the judge to impose an 18-month sentence, arguing in a memorandum that the interpreter was devoted to his work for Ohtani but suffers from a “longstanding gambling addiction, which was uniquely exacerbated by his grueling work and exposure to high-stakes bookmakers in the world of professional athletes.”
Mizuhara “made a terrible mistake as a result of his serious gambling addiction, an anomaly in an otherwise law-abiding life in which he was dedicated to his career as an interpreter for Mr. Ohtani and other baseball players,” his attorney, Michael Freedman, wrote.
The defense attorney also said Mizuhara’s reputation here and in Japan has been “irretrievably stained” and that he “will continue to suffer as a result of harm to his reputation and career in the global press and through certain deportation.”
Prosecutors, meanwhile, asked the court to impose a prison sentence of 57 months while disputing what they called “unsupported claims” by the defense on the extent of Mizuhara’s gambling problem and the financial problems he had said led him to Bowyer’s illegal sports betting business.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Mitchell wrote in a response to the defense’s sentencing filings that the government could find no proof of a long-standing gambling addiction, and that Mizuhara did not have “such a ‘tremendous debt’ that it forced him to steal millions of dollars from Mr. Ohtani, as he claims.”
Mitchell also questioned whether Mizuhara is “truly remorseful or whether they are just sorry they were caught” and highlighted portions of Mizuhara’s letter to the judge, in which he detailed his offseason duties for Ohtani.
“The government does not question defendant’s work ethic, but only his characterization of the work and his true intention,” Mitchell wrote. “Instead of using this opportunity to apologize and show true remorse, he has used it, in a public filing, to complain about his work and Mr. Ohtani.”
In addition to the prison sentence, the government asked for three years of supervised release, restitution of $16,975,010 to Ohtani and $1,149,400 to the IRS.
Sentencing comes nearly year after firing
Mizuhara worked with the Angels as Ohtani’s interpreter and then in the same capacity with the Dodgers, until the team fired him nearly a year ago, in March 2024, after the gambling controversy surfaced.
Ohtani addressed the scandal at the time during a press briefing, saying in a prepared statement through an interpreter, “I am very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this.”
Mizuhara pleaded guilty to the federal charges in June 2024.
According to the plea agreement, from November 2021 to March 2024, Mizuhara transferred nearly $17 million from the account to associates of the bookmaker in more than 40 wires without Ohtani’s permission.
Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers prior to last year, the richest deal in sports history.
Bowyer pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for running an illegal gambling business that took unlawful sports bets from hundreds of customers, including Mizuhara, the Department of Justice said. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.
Mizuhara also admitted in the plea agreement to falsely claiming that his total taxable income for 2022 was $136,865 when, in fact, he failed to report an additional $4.1 million in income.
“The source of the unreported income was from his scheme to defraud the bank,” the DOJ said, noting that he owes approximately $1,149,400 in additional taxes for the tax year 2022, plus additional interest and penalties.
His sentencing has been postponed several times after the defense asked for more time to prepare and for a forensic psychologist to complete a report about Mizuhara’s gambling.
(NEW YORK) — A moderate risk for severe weather is in place from eastern Texas through Louisiana and Mississippi and into Alabama on Saturday.
The risk for severe weather begins in Texas on Saturday morning and then charges east through the evening and into overnight.
The greatest risk will be for several strong and large long-tracked tornadoes, potentially EF3 or greater, according to the Storm Predication Center.
Other risk factors will be from large hail, damaging wind and flash flooding.
As for the rain, 2 inches to 4 inches of rain is expected in the South on Saturday from Texas to Alabama and Tennessee, with localized areas of 5 or more inches possible, leading to that flash flood risk.
This same storm complex will reach the Southeast on Sunday, leading to a severe threat there as well, although it is expected to be far less extreme than Saturday will be.
Strong to severe storms will be rolling through Georgia through the morning hours, as well as the Carolinas – where major hubs like Charlotte and Atlanta may see morning delays due to the storm.
The main threats will be from damaging wind and possible tornadoes on Sunday, though again, the threat is lower than on Saturday.
Virginia may also see strong to severe storms late morning and early afternoon.
This rain will reach Philadelphia to New York City early Monday morning but likely be gone by sunrise Monday. Boston, however, will have a rainy Monday morning.
