DC plane crash: NTSB to provide updates in investigation
Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/ U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Investigators will offer updates Tuesday in the probe into 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 Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. 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.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jennifer Homendy said last month that there was no indication the helicopter crew 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.
The NTSB will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday.
(NEW YORK) — A four-day, once-in-a-generation weather event turned deadly on day 1 on Wednesday — and the risk for destructive storms and tornadoes will continue on Thursday, and the threat of flooding will increase.
Here’s what you need to know:
Wednesday
The rare weather event began Wednesday with a tornado outbreak that led to at least 20 reported tornadoes from Arkansas to Indiana.
Matt Ziegler documented the moment a tornado ripped through his town of Lake City, Arkansas.
“I’ve always heard that they sound like a train on a track, but to be honest with you, it was eerily quiet,” he told ABC News. “If you weren’t looking, you wouldn’t know that there was a major tornado just a field over from us.”
At least four weather-related fatalities have been confirmed in Tennessee, according to state officials.
The governors of Tennessee and Kentucky have declared states of emergency.
“We are facing one of the most serious weather events we’ve had forecast,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear warned on social media. “Please stay alert, take all precautions, and be prepared.”
Thursday
On Thursday, the severe weather risk is a level 3 out of 5, bringing the chance for a few strong tornadoes from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Tennessee.
The flooding threat ramps up on Thursday as the system begins to stall and dump heavy rain over the same areas.
Overall, more than 38 million people are under a general flood watch until Sunday morning, spanning 11 states from Arkansas to Ohio including the cities of Louisville, Kentucky; Indianapolis; and Cleveland.
Public schools in Nashville, Tennessee, are closed on Thursday.
A particularly dangerous situation, or PDS, flood watch is in effect until Sunday morning for about 4 million people in parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. Cities in the PDS flood watch include Memphis; Little Rock; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Union City, Tennessee; Paducah, Kentucky; and Evansville, Indiana.
On Thursday, a rare high risk (level 4 of 4) warning for excessive rainfall is in effect in northeast Arkansas, northwest Tennessee, as well as Memphis, and western Kentucky.
Friday
Friday’s severe weather threat is a level 3 of 5 for nearly all of Arkansas, with strong tornadoes possible.
A moderate risk (level 3 of 4) for excessive rainfall is in place for Friday from just east of Dallas to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Springfield, Missouri, to St. Louis.
Saturday
Saturday’s severe weather threat is a level 3 of 5 for Arkansas, Louisiana, western Mississippi and eastern Texas, with strong tornadoes possible.
For flooding, a rare high risk threat is in effect on Saturday from Memphis to Jonesboro to Evansville.
Rain totals
The four-day event will dump 10 to 15 inches of rain or more over the area from Jonesboro to Paducah.
Seven to 10 inches of rain is possible from Little Rock to Memphis to Louisville to Cincinnati.
The system will finally move east Sunday afternoon, bringing rain to the Southeast on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Maryland has granted a preliminary injunction and ordered the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador in error, by Monday.
“I am going to grant the motion for preliminary injunction I’ve reviewed, and I’ll read this word for word, so that there is no dispute that the oral order is the written order,” said U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis at Firday’s hearing, making a reference to the Alien Enemies Act court case in which the government failed to carry out another judge’s oral order.
“The two defendants are hereby ordered to facilitate the return of plaintiff Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States by no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 7, 2025,” Judge Xinis said.
Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador as part of what the Trump administration described as a $6 million deal with Salvadoran authorities in which they would house deported migrants in exchange for payment. At Friday’s hearing, however, the Justice Department attorney denied there was such a contract.
“The way I see the record, though, is that there is an agreement between your clients and El Salvador where your clients are [paying] upward of $6 million to house individuals,” Judge Xinis said. “There’s nothing to suggest that they’re still not in the custody of DHS and immigration.”
Erez Reuveni, Acting Deputy Director for the Office of Immigration Litigation for DOJ, replied, “There’s nothing in the record that there is a contract.”
When Judge Xinis pushed back and said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have spoken about an agreement between the two countries, Reuveni said he could not speak for them.
“I can’t speak to where they got their information from,” Reuvani said. “But neither of them said there is a contact.”
“They may not have used the word contract, but agreement sounds a lot like contract where we paid $6 million,” Judge Xinis replied. “I think I can draw a logicial inference.”
Abrego Garcia, despite having protected legal status, was sent to the notorious CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador following what the government said was an “administrative error.”
“The facts are conceded,” Reuvani said during Friday’s hearing. “Mr. Abrego Garcia should not have been removed.”
Although the government has acknowledged the error, it said in an earlier court filing that because Abrego Garcia was no longer in U.S. custody, the court cannot order him to be returned to the U.S., nor can the court order El Salvador to return him.
Last month, Abrego Garcia, who has a U.S. citizen wife and 5-year-old child, was stopped by ICE officers who “informed him that his immigration status had changed,” according to his attorneys. He was detained and then transferred to a detention center in Texas, after which he was sent to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, along with more than 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members, on March 15.
Abrego Garcia entered the United States in 2011 when he was 16 to escape gang violence in El Salvador, according to his lawyers. His attorneys say that in 2019, a confidential informant “had advised that Abrego Garcia was an active member” of the gang MS-13. Abrego Garcia later filed an I-589 application for asylum, and although he was found removable, an immigration judge “granted him withholding of removal to El Salvador,” the attorneys said.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say that he “is not a member of or has no affiliation with Tren de Aragua, MS-13, or any other criminal or street gang” and said that the U.S. government “has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation.”
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt — while acknowledging the government’s error in sending him to El Salvador — called Abrego Garcia a leader of MS-13.
“The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang,” Leavitt said.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, the attorney representing Abrego Garcia, acknowledged at Friday’s hearing that his client could have been removed to another county — just not El Salvador.
“He certainly was removable to many countries on Earth — El Salvador is simply not one of them,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
“There was no removal order as to El Salvador,” he added. “This was essentially the equivalent of a forcible expulsion.”
When asked by Judge Xinis under what authority law enforcement officers seized Abrego Garcia, Reuveni said he was frustrated that he did not have those answers.
“Your honor, my answer to a lot of these questions is going to be frustrating and I’m also frustrated that I have no answers for you on a lot of these questions,” Reuvani said.
Following the hearing, Abrego Garcia’s wife said she will continue to fight for her husband.
“I want to say thank you to everyone that has helped us, that has supported us in fighting this, and we will continue fighting for Kilmar, for my husband,” said Jennifer Varquez Sura.
(TUKWILA, WA) — A postal employee was shot and killed at the United States Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center in Tukwila, Washington, on Tuesday, according to reports from the Tukwila Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service of Seattle.
Officers responded to the scene shortly after 4 p.m. local time and found an adult male with a gunshot wound and “immediately began rendering aid until fire and medic personnel arrived and took over life saving efforts,” according to Tukwila police.
However, the victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. His identity has not been released.
The shooter fled the scene and has not been located as of 7 p.m. local time, according to police.
Tukwila police said they have reason to believe the victim and suspect were acquainted, but the motive for the shooting remains unknown.
The Tukwila Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit is actively investigating the incident.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
