Japan Airlines flight hits tail of parked Delta plane at Seattle SeaTac Airport
Photo by YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP via Getty Images
(SEATTLE, Wash.) — The right wing of a taxiing Japan Airlines flight hit the tail of a parked Delta plane at Seattle’s SeaTac Airport on Wednesday, according to the airport and the Federal Aviation Administration.
No one was injured but passengers on both flights were forced to deplane, SeaTac Airport said.
Delta Flight 1921 was set to fly to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with 142 customers on board.
Delta said in a statement, “While in sequence for deicing, the tail of a Delta 737 aircraft reportedly made contact with a wing tip of another airline’s aircraft. There are no reports of injuries for crew or customers on the flight, and we apologize for the experience and delay in travels.”
The FAA said it will investigate.
“The aircraft were in an area that is not under air traffic control,” the FAA noted.
The airport said the incident had a “minimal impact” on its operations.
A judge has denied a motion to dismiss charges in the Uvalde, Texas, criminal case stemming from the 2022 mass shooting and has set a tentative trial date.
Former Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo, who was the on-site commander at Robb Elementary School on the day of the shooting, and former school officer Adrian Gonzales appeared in court for a joint pretrial hearing on Thursday.
Arredondo faces 10 counts of child endangerment and abandonment on behalf of the injured and surviving children in classroom 112. Gonzales faces 29 counts: 10 counts for each surviving child and 19 for each deceased child. Arredondo and Gonzales have both pleaded not guilty.
Their charges stem from the May 24, 2022, mass shooting during which a gunman killed two teachers and 19 students at the elementary school. Law enforcement waited some 77 minutes at the scene before breaching a classroom and killing the gunman.
The judge on Thursday denied the motion to quash Arredondo’s indictment. The judge also set a tentative trial start date for October 2025.
Arredondo had filed a motion asking the court to declare his child endangerment indictment invalid, arguing the gunman was solely responsible for the shooting.
Arredondo has repeatedly defended his actions and told investigators he did not believe the gunman was an active shooter when he arrived. He also has insisted he was not in command of the police response.
The indictment alleges that despite having time to respond to the shooting, Gonzales failed to act to impede the gunman and failed to follow active shooter training by not advancing toward the gunfire.
Gonzales’ defense attorney, Nico LaHood, has said, “There was over 370 officers there. We have not seen or even heard of a theory of why Mr. Gonzales is being singled out.”
Families of victims and survivors who were in the courtroom Thursday said they were relieved the case is moving forward.
“It was hard being inside the courtroom while Pete was with his attorneys as we listened to their arguments about why he felt he wasn’t responsible for Jackie’s death,” said Gloria Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter, Jackie, was killed. “After two and half years, it finally feels like things are progressing.”
During the hearing, attorneys discussed their frustration with their inability to receive an unredacted copy of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection report about the agency’s response to the Robb Elementary shooting.
To date, Arredondo and Gonzales are the only indicted law enforcement officers of the 376 officers who were among the police response to the shooting.
Marissa Kay Carmichael is pictured in an undated photo provided by the Greensboro Police Department. Greensboro Police Department
(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — Police in Greensboro, North Carolina, are urging the community to share any information related to the case of Marissa Carmichael, a Black mother of five who vanished one year ago on Jan. 14, 2024, from an Exxon gas station shortly after making a distressed call to 911.
“We appreciate your interest in the Marissa Carmichael case and for keeping it in front of your viewers and our community,” a spokesperson for the Greensboro Police Department (GPD) told ABC News on Tuesday evening. “While there is no public update at this time, this remains an active investigation and we encourage anyone with information to please contact Crime Stoppers to share tips anonymously.”
Carmichael’s mother, Sara Carmichael, told ABC News in an interview on Tuesday that the family, including Marissa’s five children, are distraught as they await updates from detectives working the case.
“Every day I wake up and it’s like, here, you know, it’s just the day where I might find out some news,” Sara Carmichael said. “Is this the day where, you know, there may be some answers for me, for her kids? It just sometimes – this does not seem real. It still just doesn’t seem real.”
Sara Carmichael, who spoke with ABC News in February 2024, along with Marissa’s sister Emma Villegas, as the search for her daughter hit the one-month mark, said that Tuesday was a “hard day” for the family since it marked one year since anyone had seen or talked with Marissa.
“It’s just been a real rough day and I’m just hoping things will come to the light soon with the new detectives they have working on the case,” Sara Carmichael said, adding that she has suffered from anxiety, depression, insomnia and experienced frequent panic attacks since her daughter’s disappearance.
“It’s like a constant state of panic, of worry, of, you know, not sleeping, always wondering what, what could she be going through? You know, is she still alive?” she said.
According to police, Carmichael was last seen at 3:46 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 14, at the Exxon gas station on 809 East Market St. in Greensboro and made a distressed call to 911 just before she vanished.
In the 911 call – the audio of which was obtained by ABC News — Carmichael appeared distressed and was asking for help finding a ride home. According to an incident report obtained by ABC News, when police arrived at the gas station, Carmichael wasn’t there.
During the 2-minute call, Carmichael, whose name is bleeped out when she identifies herself, tells the 911 dispatcher that a man had asked her to pick up some things at the gas station but drove off while she was inside and that she has no way of getting home. Police have confirmed that the call is from Marissa.
“I don’t know where I am in Greensboro … he took off with my phone. I have no clue where I’m at. I have no numbers,” Carmichael tells the dispatcher.
Sara Carmichael said that the family last saw Marissa on Saturday, Jan. 13, and were with her all day, but since Jan. 14, her daughter – an avid social media user – has not been active on her accounts and her phone has been turned off, going straight to voicemail.
According to Carmichael, on the night before her disappearance, Marissa told her sister Emma that she was going to the club and asked her not to tell her mother because she didn’t want her to worry.
Sara Carmichael said after talking to her daughter’s friends, she learned that Marissa went to One17 SofaBar & Lounge, and then later went to an Airbnb for an after party, then was dropped off at the Exxon station.
“When I woke up around lunchtime, Sunday [Jan. 14], and she wasn’t home, and then I found out she didn’t go to work, and that’s just not like her at all,” she said when asked what prompted her to report her daughter missing. “She’s always in touch with me. So, I had a feeling.”
Later that day, Sara Carmichael filed a missing person’s report – a copy of which was obtained by ABC News.
Police told ABC News in February 2024 that they are “increasingly concerned” for Marissa Carmichael’s “welfare” and over the past year have shared multiple advisories asking the community to come forward with any tips about her whereabouts.
The mother of five, who was 25 years old as the time of her disappearance, is described by police as a 5 feet, 4 inches tall, biracial female weighing approximately 260 pounds, with long black and blonde braids.
She also has a heart tattoo on her face and a butterfly near her eye and was wearing a white Tweety Bird T-shirt, blue jeans, and yellow sneakers when she was last seen, police said, sharing a surveillance photo with ABC News of Carmichael at the Exxon gas station on the night she was last seen.
Police are asking anyone with information regarding Marissa Carmichael’s whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000.
(PHILADELPHIA, Pa.) — It was just a normal Friday evening for Philadelphia father Andre Howard and his 10-year-old son Trey Howard.
Andre Howard picked up Trey Howard and his two younger siblings from school and drove to a nearby Dunkin’.
“I promised him Tuesday that we would get donuts on Friday after school,” Andre Howard told ABC News.
However, as they were leaving the Dunkin’, about to turn on Cottman Avenue, Andre Howard said the family heard a loud bang, quickly accompanied by a “ball of fire” and black smoke. Little did they know, a medical transport jet had just crashed nearby.
Andre Howard attempted to reverse his truck, using the donut shop as a shield to stop flying debris. Then, he heard his son shout something from the backseat of the car.
“I hear my son telling his sister, ‘Get down, baby girl,'” Andre Howard said.
Trey Howard, who is in the fourth grade, used his body as a human shield to protect his younger sister from incoming debris, his father said.
“I turn around and he has metal out the side of his head,” Andre Howard said.
In efforts to protect his younger sister, Trey Howard was hit with a piece of plane debris or glass, with part of it sticking out of his head, his father said.
As Andre Howard attempted to move his son, the metal protruding from Trey Howard’s head fell out, causing blood to gush everywhere, he said. Andre Howard said he wrapped Trey Howard’s head with socks, while someone else lent a shirt — anything to stop the bleeding.
Andre Howard said he flagged down a police officer on the scene, who drove the family to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where Trey Howard underwent emergency brain surgery, and then was transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Andre Howard said he was told there was a high likelihood his son wouldn’t survive.
However, after the procedure and a full weekend in the intensive care unit, Trey Howard was moved to a regular room on Monday and continues to recover from the harrowing event.
“Am I OK? No. Is his mother OK? No. Is his family OK? No. But we are going to be strong for him every step of this process to get him back to full strength,” Andre Howard said.
When Trey Howard was finally able to speak again, the first thing he asked was, ‘Daddy, did I save my sister?'”
Andre Howard said his son’s selfless act of bravery was “something that not a lot of grown men could do” and called his fourth grader his “superhero.”
The hospital is continuing to monitor Trey Howard’s skull, ensuring all of the debris has been removed, his father said. Until he is able to go home, Andre Howard said his son has been getting many visitors — including his teachers and Philadelphia 76ers player Tyrese Maxey.
“Thank God my son is still here. Thank God we didn’t go into the flame,” Andre Howard said. “I’m just happy he is here.”
The plane crash, which involved a medical transport jet, killed all six people on board, as well as one person on the ground. Officials are still investigating the cause of the crash.