Passengers evacuate plane on slides after Delta flight aborts takeoff
Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(ATLANTA) — Hundreds of passengers were forced to evacuate on slides during a snowstorm after their Delta flight aborted takeoff from Atlanta due to an engine issue Friday morning, the airline said.
Delta Flight 2668 was traveling from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Minneapolis-St. Paul when it suspended takeoff shortly after 9 a.m. due to “an indication of an engine issue,” the airline said.
Passengers exited the Boeing 757-300 aircraft through emergency slides and ground transportation was used to take them back to the terminal.
Four passengers reported minor injuries in the incident, with one transported to an area hospital, the airport said. The other three were treated at the scene, the airport said. The nature of their injuries was not immediately clear.
The plane was carrying 201 passengers and seven crew members.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our people and customers, and we apologize to our customers for their experience,” Delta said in a statement. “We are working to support our customers and get them to their destinations as safely and quickly as possible.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate.
Operations at the Atlanta airport were delayed due to the incident and the “ongoing severe weather,” the airport said in a statement.
Approximately 2 inches of snow had fallen by noon in Atlanta, the most in seven years, as a massive winter storm impacts the South.
More than 2,600 flights across the country have been canceled as of midday Friday due to the storm, with Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas and Nashville seeing the biggest impacts.
(SANFORD, Fla.) — A 17-year-old was arrested on Sunday after posting a video online allegedly plotting a shooting at a high school in Florida, according to the Sanford Police Department.
Officials said they received an anonymous tip on Saturday regarding a “video of an unknown male threatening to shoot up Seminole High School.”
The video “pictured the subject with multiple guns, vests and other items of concern,” authorities said in a statement on Sunday.
Timothy A. Thomas, 17, was ultimately confirmed as the student in the video, police said. Thomas was charged with intimidation through a written or electronic threat of a mass shooting or act of terrorism, police said.
Thomas is a student at Elevation High School, which is approximately 4 miles from Seminole High School. He was found at his residence and “taken into custody without incident,” officials said.
The weapons — which were seized after the teen’s arrest — were “extremely realistic Airsoft replicas,” according to police.
Sanford Chief of Police Cecil Smith applauded the “swift dedication and arrest” of the suspect.
“This fact action and teamwork most likely prevented a tragedy and saved multiple lives,” Smith said in a statement.
Serita Beamon, superintendent of Seminole County Public Schools, said she was “thankful” for law enforcement’s prompt response to the threats.
“The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority, and we will continue to take any potential threat seriously, and act quickly,” Beamon said in a statement.
Anyone with additional information about the incident should reach out to the Sanford Police Department or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).
(WASHINGTON) — Fourteen members of Congress have signed a letter demanding the release of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, despite being a legal permanent resident.
Khalil was detained on Saturday after two plainclothes Department of Homeland Security agents entered Columbia student housing and detained Khalil without presenting a warrant or any filed charges, according to the letter.
Khalil is a legal permanent resident and is married to a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, according to the letter.
The 14 members of Congress — including “Squad” members Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. — called Khalil’s detention an “attempt to criminalize political protest” and a “direct assault on freedom of speech.”
“Khalil has not been charged or convicted of any crime. As the Trump Administration proudly admits, he was targeted solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader and negotiator for the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Columbia University’s campus,” the members of Congress wrote in a letter addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The members of Congress, all Democrats, also called Khalil’s detention an act of “anti-Palestinian racism intended to silence the Palestine solidarity movement in this country.”
The ICE agents who arrested Khalil at his home first said that the State Department had revoked his student visa. After being informed by Khalil’s attorney that he was a permanent resident with a green card, the ICE agents said that his green card was being revoked instead, according to the letter.
The agents also threatened to arrest Khalil’s pregnant wife, according to the letter.
“DHS initially informed them he was being held in Elizabeth New Jersey, but his wife attempted to visit the facility on Sunday only to learn that he was not there. DHS refused to provide additional information on his location to his attorney or spouse,” the letter said.
Shortly after his arrest, Khalil was transferred to an ICE facility in central Louisiana.
“Khalil’s constitutional rights have been violated. He has been denied meaningful access to counsel and any visitation from his family. This is absolutely unacceptable — and illegal,” the letter said.
A federal judge has blocked Khalil’s removal while weighing a petition challenging his arrest.
The Trump administration said it has the authority to remove Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the secretary of state has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who serve, or are adversarial to the foreign policy and the national security interests of the United States of America,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. “Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities and colleges and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege, by siding with terrorists, Hamas terrorists.”
Baher Azmy, one of Khalil’s lawyers, called his client’s alleged alignment with Hamas “false and preposterous.”
“Setting aside the false and preposterous premise that advocating on behalf of Palestinian human rights and to plead with public officials to stop an ongoing genocide constitutes alignment with Hamas, his speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they’re engaged in,” Azmy told ABC News on Monday.
Khalil completed his program at the university in December and expects to graduate in May, according to the habeas corpus petition filed by his lawyer.
Leavitt also said Tuesday that more arrests will come and added Columbia University is “refusing to help” DHS in identifying other individuals.
“I also know that Columbia University has been given the names of other individuals who have engaged in pro-Hamas activity and they are refusing to help DHS identify those individuals on campus,” Leavitt said.
(LOS ANGELES) — California homeowners shared evacuation stories and video clips of the damaging flames plowing through their community as the Pacific Palisades fire continues to blaze since its start on Tuesday.
Zibby and Kyle Owens, who own a home in Pacific Palisades but also reside in New York, sat down with Diane Macedo on ABC News Live on Wednesday morning, showcasing footage from their Google Nest camera that reveals the devastating flames. The camera faces their backyard, with the fire engulfing the surrounding area and moving closer to their pool.
“This is the worst-case scenario playing out in front of our eyes right now,” Kyle Owens said. “It’s not just a place, it’s a beautiful community.”
The video was the last contact the Owens received from their home since they lost power shortly afterward.
Fires are common in California, and the Owens said they are not new to this experience. The couple recently evacuated from a New Year’s Eve fire that started with fireworks. However, these particularly powerful Santa Ana wind gusts, which allow the fire to burn five football fields per minute, concerned Kyle Owens about the future of this community.
“If we’re able to go back at some point, I don’t know what we are going back to,” Kyle Owens said.
Kyle Owens also discussed how Pacific Palisades, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the area, is particularly difficult to evacuate due to its hillside homes and winding streets. Many friends waited over three hours to get down the mountain, a drive that would normally take around two minutes.
Two other Pacific Palisades residents, Kenny and Tricia Rakusin, who live along the coastline, said they also struggled to escape the fire zone as a buildup of vehicles trying to travel the hill toward Pacific Coast Highway clogged the road. Tricia Rakusin said her daughter also witnessed many people forced to abandon their cars along Sunset Boulevard.
“This neighborhood has been in place for decades, there’s never been a fire anywhere close to where we live,” Tricia Rakusin said. “No one has ever conceived the possibility of this.”
Along with the stress of the destructive flames and imminent damage, Tricia Rakusin said their insurance canceled all policies in their area four months ago.
“When we go up there, it will be from a war zone,” Kenny Rakusin said. “The unknown is really challenging.”
As of now, the Pacific Palisades fire, which is among two other fires in LA County, has grown to at least 3,000 acres and is zero percent contained.
On top of the uncertainty of their home’s condition, the Owens worry the flames could travel to Zibby’s bookshop in Santa Monica, which is also under an evacuation warning. For the Owens and many others, these flames are wiping away businesses and homes full of memories and connection.
“There is so much soul to the neighborhood,” Zibby Owens said. “It’s unthinkable that this place could vanish.”
