United Airlines flight evacuated before takeoff after engine issue
Passenger captures the moment an United Airlines plane gets filled with smoke after engine issue and the following evacuation on slides at Houston airport, Feb. 2, 2025. (Ashlyn Sharp)
(HOUSTON) — Passengers on a United Airlines flight from Houston to New York were evacuated before takeoff on Sunday due to engine issues, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
No injuries were reported, according to the Houston Fire Department, which was assisting at the scene.
The FAA said takeoff was “safely aborted” due to a “reported engine issue.”
“Passengers deplaned on the runway and were bused to the terminal,” the FAA said in a statement.
United Airlines confirmed the incident, saying passengers evacuated the aircraft “via a combination of slides and stairs.”
In one video taken by a passenger, smoke could be seen coming out of the plane.
In another video, passengers were seen deplaning via the aircraft’s evacuation slide.
One passenger, Kelcie Davis, called it a “terrifying experience” in a post she shared on TikTok.
“Engine blew out right as our wheels were leaving the ground,” Davis said. “Plane lost control on the runway for a few seconds, but thank god our pilot was able to get the plane back under control. Only one slide was working for the entire plane to evacuate.”
ABC News’ Ayesha Ali and Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — Antioch High School in Nashville is on lockdown after shots were fired inside the school, according to Metro Nashville Public Schools.
At least two students were shot in the cafeteria, according to Nashville police. The shooter then shot himself, police said.
The shooter “is no longer a threat,” the school district said in a statement.
(LOS ANGELES) — Hydroclimate whiplash — the rapid shift between wet and dry conditions — likely contributed to the severity of the wildfires burning in Southern California, according to experts.
In recent years, parts of the state shifted from a major drought to an extended period of above-average precipitation that allowed for abundant vegetation growth. After that, a stretch of intense, record-breaking heat dried out much of that vegetation and provided ample fuel for large and fast-growing wildfires.
The Los Angeles region experienced two “extraordinarily wet” winters — in 2023 and 2024 — followed by dry conditions that began in February, Edith de Guzman, a water equity and adaptation policy cooperative extension specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told ABC News. Since May 6, Los Angeles has only seen 0.16 inches of rain, so the region’s rainy season is off to an unusually dry start.
“Right now, we essentially have had no measurable precipitation since last spring, which has dried out all of that vegetation that grew happily over the last two wet winters,” De Guzman said.
The shrub cover that popped up as a result of the extra precipitation later dried out — providing large volumes of fuel for a fire, De Guzman said.
Combined with the highly flammable materials many of the houses were constructed with, such as wood frames, it was a recipe for disaster, De Guzman said.
In Southern California, dry conditions are also now more likely to last later into the fall, leaving the region more vulnerable during high wind events, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with both UCLA and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“Climate change is increasing the overlap between extremely dry vegetation conditions later in the season and the occurrence of these wind events,” Swain said.
Hydroclimate variability has always been a staple of California’s natural climate, leaving it particularly vulnerable to wildfires.
Among all of the states in the continental U.S., California has the most year-to-year variability between wet and dry conditions.
“As you move down into Southern California, that variability increases even more,” Julie Kalansky, climate scientist and deputy director of operations at the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told ABC News.
However, some climate experts point to growing evidence that shows climate change has increased the volatility between very dry and very wet conditions around the world, like moving from a devastating drought to record-breaking precipitation and then back to a drought. These rapid swings between extreme weather events will amplify many of the associated hazards and contribute to devastating wildfire events.
Climate change could also be making wild weather swings more common and more extreme, according to new research published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment and the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a breakdown of the latest in climate science coming from 14 federal agencies, published in November 2023.
“These hotter, dry conditions that are driven by climate change have created a tinderbox,” said Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “We have this dried out vegetation, very dry landscapes.”
But hydrovariability alone didn’t lead to the devastating fires over the past week. A “confluence” of events allowed the fires to explode instantly, Cleetus said.
It was the wind that spread the fires so rapidly once they were ignited. An exceptionally strong mountain wave wind event, with northerly 80 mph to 100 mph gusts, spread the fires faster than anyone could stop them.
“We experienced the most intense Santa Ana winds in nearly 15 years,” De Guzman said.
Conditions higher up in the atmosphere helped to further enhance winds at the surface.
Cold, dense air associated with a low pressure system in the upper atmosphere was moving over Baja California. That air was positioned at a favorable north-northeast to northeast trajectory over the region allowing for the colder air located higher up in the atmosphere to come rushing down towards the surface and enhance the winds already blowing.
This brought surges of powerful winds across the Los Angeles and Ventura County Mountains — including in some places that don’t typically see winds that strong, like Burbank and in the foothills of the Pacific Palisades.
The wind direction and topography played a major role as well. The San Gabriel Mountains and the wind orientation interacted to produce a damaging wind event that doesn’t occur often. The mountains can also make the winds more erratic because additional whirls of wind, known as wind eddies, can form as the air moves across the peaks and through the canyons.
“They were extremely strong and fast, but they were also erratic,” De Guzman said. “They typically are narrower and a little bit more predictable in direction.”
ABC News’ Matthew Glasser, Dan Manzo and Ginger Zee contributed to this report.
EAST HAMPTON, NY – JULY 2: Jay-Z and Sean Combs attend Puffy’s Fourth of July Party at Sean Combs’ House on July 2, 2000 in East Hampton, NY. (Photo by Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs are accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at an after-party following the 2000 Video Music Awards, according to an amended civil lawsuit filed Sunday.
“Another celebrity stood by and watched as Combs and Carter took turns assaulting the minor,” the lawsuit said without naming the celebrity.
In a statement posted to the Roc Nation X account on Sunday, Jay-Z denied the allegations made against him in the filing.
Jay-Z was added to the lawsuit that was originally filed in October as one of several anonymous complaints by Texas attorney Tony Buzbee.
Many of the lawsuits did not survive because the plaintiffs declined to be named; however, in this case, the judge said the then-13-year-old showed sufficient cause to continue anonymously.
Carter was identified in the original complaint as Celebrity A.
The plaintiff alleged she was noticed by a limousine driver who invited her to the after-party where Combs and Carter raped her.
In his statement, Jay-Z claimed Buzbee had sent his lawyer a “demand letter” ahead of the filing.
“My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a ‘lawyer’ named Tony Buzbee. What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” Jay-Z wrote.
“No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!” he added in the statement.
In his response, the music mogul questioned why the filing was a civil lawsuit rather than a criminal filing.
“Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree? These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case,” Jay-Z wrote.
Jay-Z went on to address the fact that his family, including his children, may be affected by the filing.
“My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people,” he wrote.
In a statement to ABC News Buzbee said, “The pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court.”
Buzbee also took to his personal Instagram account on Sunday, saying he would not be “bullied or intimidated,” without mentioning the specific lawsuit, Jay-Z or Diddy by name.
“People will see through this effort to discredit me and my clients and the truth will be revealed,” Buzbee wrote. “I also won’t allow anyone to scare my clients into silence. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and I am quite certain the sun is coming,” he added.
Combs’ legal representatives responded to the filing in a statement to ABC News on Sunday, saying, “This amended complaint and the recent extortion lawsuit against Mr. Buzbee exposes his barrage of lawsuits against Mr. Combs for what they are: shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr. Combs.”
“As his legal team has said before, Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor,” Combs’ representatives said in the statement.
