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How safe and secure are cockpits?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

The attempt by an off-duty pilot to shut down the engines of a U.S. airliner in midflight highlights the threat that insiders pose to aviation safety with their ability to go where passengers are prohibited.Events like the one Sunday on a Horizon Air jetliner are very rare, but they are potentially devastating.The captain and co-pilot prevented disaster by subduing the off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who — from his perfect vantage point in the cockpit jump seat — tried to cut fuel to the engines.“We’re just lucky he wasn’t flying the plane when he decided to do this. What’s going to stop that?” said Jon Loffi, a longtime law enforcement officer who teaches aviation security at Oklahoma State University and wrote a paper on identifying insider threats.There is something of a see-something, say-something mindset in aviation, where employees are encouraged to voluntarily report anything that raises a safety concern, including suspicious behavior of colleagues. It's not clear h...

'I would take that back': Woman who called 911 testifies in APD officer's murder trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News Today's top morning headlines for Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Opening statements wrapped up Monday in the trial of Austin Police Officer Christopher Taylor, who was charged with murder in the death of Mike Ramos. Prosecutors continued to present witnesses Tuesday in the second day of the APD officer's trial. Taylor shot and killed Ramos, 42, during a confrontation with police back in April 2020 at a south Austin apartment complex parking lot. Taylor is on administrative leave with APD.You can follow KXAN's Grace Reader, who is reporting from the courtroom on day 2, here. Day 2: We're back in the courtroom this morning for the Christopher Taylor trial. The APD officer is charged with murder in the death of Mike Ramos in 2020. I'll have another thread today🔽https://t.co/SrEZpYi9WD— Grace Reader (@GraceReaderTV) October 24, 2023 Testimony from woman who called 911 on RamosA woman who called 911 on Ramos, which le...

Flesh-eating parasite linked to international travel may be endemic to Texas, US, per the CDC

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes a flesh-eating parasitic disease caused by a sand fly bite may be endemic in Texas and other southern states, according to a new analysis. Leishmaniasis occurs through a bite of an infected female sand fly, which consumes blood to produce eggs. The infection is most common in parts of Africa, Brazil and the eastern Mediterranean region, like Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the World Health Organization. It is thought that the parasite can live in other hosts, like rodents, and spread through the sand fly. All leishmaniasis infections are caused by Leishmania parasites but can have varying clinical presentations. The most common form – called cutaneous leishmaniasis – can cause ulcers and permanent scars. Some more severe variations of the disease can be fatal, according to the CDC. “Historically, it was considered that cutaneous leishmaniasis, or any type of leishmaniasis, is linked to interna...

State employee recounts Good Samaritans' efforts to save victim in fatal SH 130 crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Two fatal crashes were reported at the intersection of State Highway 130 and Gregg Manor Road within 24 hours this weekend, continuing a trend of documented crashes on and near the Travis County intersection over the past several years.Just before 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Austin-Travis County EMS responded to the first of those crashes, before medics returned to the same site just after 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Three patients were accounted for in Saturday's two-vehicle crash that involved a sedan and a truck, ATCEMS officials said. A state emergency services employee drove by the crash on Saturday. They, alongside several strangers, pulled over and attempted to save the driver of a sedan involved in the crash. They also attended to the driver of the truck and his passenger. The truck driver was marked trauma alert and was transported from the scene via Travis County Star Flight.The driver of the sedan ultimately died from their injuries -- but the state employee ...

AFD Station 1 to temporarily use downtown Travis County space

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Fire Department will temporarily move some firefighters into a Travis County office building while Fire Station 1 renovations continue. Fire Station 1, located at Fifth and Trinity streets, closed Oct. 13 because of renovations and some construction complications. Crews were moved to other stations in the city. PREVIOUS REPORTING: Downtown fire station closes — is it a dangerous move? Travis County commissioners approved an agreement to let AFD use space in the Ned Granger Building on 11th Street. The move will help with response times and keep firefighters in proximity to downtown Austin, Fire Chief Joel Baker told county commissioners Tuesday. Firefighters will move into the 11th Street space in one to two weeks, Baker said. About 15-20 people will be using the space at any given time, including some medic units. The space is on the first floor and about 7,200 square feet in size with a full kitchen. Baker said they are still determining where the fire...

Who Is Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the latest Republican nominee for Speaker?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Tuesday elected Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 in the party, as their speaker nominee after five rounds of ballots that pointed to a precarious path forward.The internal party election came after Republicans cast aside Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the second party nominee for speaker, who was unable to win the majority of votes needed to be elected to the top job.Emmer, 62, of Delano, Minn., has served since January as the party’s whip, responsible for counting and securing the votes to pass the speaker’s agenda. He was the highest-ranking Republican in the race and has been endorsed by ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy.A mainstream conservative who voted to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory and supported a stopgap spending bill last month to avert a shutdown, Emmer has pitched himself as a unity candidate. Several hard-right conservatives, including a handful who voted to oust McCarthy, have signaled their support for the Minnesota Republi...

NHL partially reverses decision on players using ice time to support LGBTQ+ community

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

The NHL has dropped a mandate that its players cannot express support for groups or causes during on-ice warmups before games, the league said in a statement released on Tuesday.The decision came three days after Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott became the first player to defy the NHL’s edict played with Pride Tape on the shaft of his stick during Arizona’s 2-1 victory over Anaheim.“After consultation with the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, Players will now have the option to voluntarily represent social causes with their stick tape throughout the season,” the league said in a statement released on social media and the league’s media site.The decision is only a partial reversal of a policy that prohibits players from wearing pride jerseys in games or during warmups, as some teams have done, on Pride Night or Hockey is for Everybody Night. That’s still the case, but initially, the league told teams that players could not use ice time to express thei...

Off-duty pilot told Horizon Air cockpit crew ‘I’m not okay,’ took psychedelic mushrooms before trying to shut off engines

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

The harrowing encounter that nearly doomed a Horizon Air plane flying Sunday from Seattle to San Francisco began without warning when an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot from Pleasant Hill riding in a cockpit jump seat blurted out to the flight captain and first officer: “I’m not okay,” according to a federal court affidavit.Joseph David Emerson, 44, then reached up and pulled red handles that cut off fuel to the plane’s engines, intended as an emergency safety measure if they catch fire, the affidavit said. The pilot grabbed Emerson’s wrist and the men “wrestled” for about 30 seconds, then Emerson “quickly settled down,” it said. The pilot asked Emerson to leave the cockpit, and Emerson left on his own, it said.The plane landed in Portland, where officers arrested Emerson, 44, on charges of attempted murder, reckless endangerment and endangering an aircraft, and he was expected to be arraigned in court Tuesday.Federal authorities have since charged Emerson with interfering with a fli...

Kevin Monahan's trial set to begin next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

FORT EDWARD, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The trial for Kevin Monahan is set to begin Oct. 30. Monahan is accused of shooting and killing Kaylin Gillis in April after she and her friends mistakenly drove onto Monahan's driveway. Monahan is charged with murder, reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence. The shooting gained national attention. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! “The outside attention is, in part, our responsibility as the District Attorney to keep that from the process," District Attorney Tony Jordan said. "I think there were a lot of important discussions at the time because of what was happening in other parts of the country and I think that had more to do with the attention than anything else."The court is taking a unique approach to jury selection, beginning the process one day early. Preliminary jury selection begins Oct. 27; a large pool of prospective jurors will be surveyed about potential conflicts wit...

Quaker Ridge Walmart closed in Queensbury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The Walmart store on Quaker Ridge Boulevard in Queensbury is closed without power. The store announced the closure on Facebook around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! "WE ARE CLOSED," the store wrote. "Sorry for any inconvenience. We lost power."The store did not offer a timeline for getting power restored. Over the summer, the store remained open during road work along its adjacent portion of Quaker Road. The Walmart is one of two locations in the town of Queensbury, with another at 891 Route 9. Meeting this week on plan for Queensbury’s future This story will be updated with any further details as they are made available.