(NEW YORK) — Eight people were recently taken to the hospital after a JetBlue Airlines plane encountered “sudden severe turbulence” early Monday as it neared Florida, the airline confirmed to ABC News.
Last month, 14 people were injured after a Delta Air Lines plane experienced sudden turbulence on approach to Atlanta, Georgia. In August, two flight attendants were injured after a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Punta Cana experienced turbulence.
Turbulence happens when planes encounter unstable air created by atmospheric pressure, jet streams, and even thunderstorms. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), it can also occur unexpectedly when skies appear to be clear.
Pilots can’t see turbulence on radars within the cockpit, but they can however see weather systems that may cause turbulence.
“You can see indications of a rapidly changing weather, which should as a pilot put you on on the track for telling everyone to sit down and suspend in-flight services,” John Nance, former commercial pilot and ABC News Contributor, said in an interview with ABC News.
Nance said pilots will also report experiencing bumps to air traffic control, which will then relay that information to other pilots.
The FAA said it has received 17 reports of severe injuries related to turbulence last year – up from the 13 reports it received in 2019.
Experts say the best thing passengers can do to stay safe is keep their seatbelt on at all times during flight.
“The airplane can handle it, but the bodies inside, when they’re not strapped to the airplane, can’t. It’s that simple,” Captain Dennis Tajer, a 30-year veteran of American Airlines and spokesman for the union representing 15,000 pilots at American, told ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — Fall may have just begun, but meteorologists are already looking at the upcoming winter season’s forecast with the help of El Nino.
El Nino is a warmer than normal surface ocean temperature in the eastern equatorial Pacific, which impacts weather around the world, including the United States.
The warm ocean helps change the Pacific jet stream’s position, allowing warmer-than-normal air to move into parts of North America.
Usually, the United States begins to see significant impacts of El Nino in the late fall and early winter and these impacts last into early spring.
What is an El Nino winter?
On average, during an El Nino winter, the northern U.S. sees warmer than average temperatures, as the polar jet stream stays north and keeps the cold air in Canada.
Meanwhile, the South is wetter than normal due to the active subtropical jet that is fueled by warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean.
Additionally, the Ohio Valley and mid-Mississippi River Valley are forecast to stay drier than normal, which could worsen drought in the area.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration updated its winter outlook for the U.S. and it looks very similar to a traditional El Nino winter.
El Nino’s 2023 winter forecast for US
Temperatures are forecast to be warmer than normal for all of the northern U.S., from northern California, Oregon and Washington to Pennsylvania, New York and into New England.
NOAA says that temperatures will stay closer to the 30-year average for the South.
For the precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc.), the northern states could see below-normal snowfall, especially in the northern Rockies and the Great Lakes.
Across most of the South, wetter than normal conditions are expected, especially in the Southeast from Louisiana to Florida and into the Carolinas.
For the Northeast, there is a chance that this will be a wetter than normal winter from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, to New York City and into southern New England.
With warmer-than-normal temperatures forecast for the Northeast, major I-95 corridor cities will see more rain than snow.
With record-warm ocean waters this year around the globe, this could alter El Nino in a way we have not seen before.
One other thing to note, this is all a probability forecast. The atmosphere is very fluid and dynamic, and forecasts could change.
(NEW YORK) — A third person has been arrested in connection with the New York City day care drug operation that resulted in the death of a 1-year-old boy.
Renny Antonio Parra Paredes was taken into custody Saturday and charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute narcotics. He appeared to be a drug dealer doing business with the suspects at the Bronx day care, according to police sources. He appeared in federal court in Lower Manhattan on Monday and was ordered to be held without bail.
The three arrests in the case stem from the death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici, who died on Sept. 15 following exposure to fentanyl at his day care.
Three other children, ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years, were hospitalized and treated with Narcan, police said. An analysis of urine from one of the victims confirmed the presence of fentanyl, officials said.
Investigators found a kilo of fentanyl stored on kids’ play mats at the day care, along with a device to press drugs into bricks for sale, according to court records. In a trap floor under the day care’s play area, investigators found fentanyl, other narcotics and drug paraphernalia, police said.
The first two to be arrested were day care owner Grei Mendez and her tenant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito. They face federal charges of narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death as well as state charges including murder.
Mendez’s attorney has said she was unaware drugs were being stored in her day care by Brito, her husband’s cousin, to whom she was renting a room for $200 a week.
A search is ongoing for Mendez’s husband, who, according to court records, was seen on video fleeing the day care out of a back alley carrying two trash bags.
New images of Mendez’s husband were released Monday allegedly showing him walk out of the day care with he bags.
Paredes isn’t being charged yet by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, which has charged Mendez and Brito with several charges including murder, manslaughter and assault.
Federal investigators said a search of Brito’s cell phone records found that he was in constant contact with Paredes allegedly about their drug operation, according to the criminal complaint.
Paredes was making daily trips to the vicinity of the day care in the weeks leading up to the children’s poisoning, according to the complaint.
After he was arrested Saturday, Paredes allegedly lied about his visits to the day care and his whereabouts earlier in the day, the complaint said.
Later that day, investigators searched the apartment he was allegedly staying in with his aunt and found bags filled with drug making materials, the complaint said.
One of the items recovered was a stamp with the same identification that was used on the glassine envelopes found in the drug making material recovered from the day care, federal investigators said.
Attorney information for Parades was not immediately available.
Federal authorities last week promised to hold accountable anyone linked to the day care.
(NEW YORK) — Dr. Lynn O’Connor is now the first Black female police surgeon for the New York Police Department (NYPD) after being sworn in on Monday.
“This is incredibly [meaningful] to me,” she told “GMA3” in an exclusive interview prior to her swearing in ceremony. “If you would have told me at 10 years of age that I’d be sitting here speaking with you, and soon to be sworn in as the first Black female police surgeon for the NYPD, I wouldn’t believe it.”
O’Connor also serves as the chief of colon and rectal surgery at Mercy Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital. In her new role at the NYPD, she will determine officers’ fitness for duty, treat injured members and provide them with consultations.
Speaking of her experience as a doctor working with police officers, O’Connor said officers spend so much time taking care of others that they don’t have as much time to care for themselves.
“With my background in this position, I am uniquely positioned to develop colorectal cancer awareness programs, screening programs and various other initiatives that are going to be key in keeping our officers safe, and keeping them healthy and keeping them fit for service,” she said.
NYPD Chief of Personnel John Benoit said in a statement that “We’re very excited about this historical appointment of the first Black female police surgeon in the department’s 178-year history.”
“Dr. O’Connor is an inspiration to all employees, and her expertise will prove to be valuable to our members – especially those who have been impacted by colorectal cancer,” he continued.
O’Connor noted that there are not a lot of Black physicians in the country and underscored the need for them.
“Studies have shown when a patient is treated with a physician that is of the same race or ethnicity, they have markedly improved outcomes,” O’Connor said. “They’re diagnosed quicker, they’re seen quicker, their overall health is improved. And that leads to saving lives, that leads to longevity, which is what I want to do when we get into the NYPD.”
To all the young girls watching her, O’Connor said she wants them to know they’re enough and they and their goals matter.
“You can be what you can’t see,” she said. “Perseverance pays off.”
ABC News’ Jessica Yankelunas and Jessica Hornig contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Children’s book publisher Make Believe Ideas has recalled approximately 260,000 children’s books due to a potential choking hazard.
Seven titles from Make Believe Ideas’ Rainbow Road Board Books series are impacted by the recall, according to a company press release. The recalled books include the titles “Animal Counting,” “Dinosaur’s First Words,” “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” “Rainbow Road Book Box,” “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,” “Things that Go!,” “Unicorn’s Colors” and “Where’s My Bottom?”
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a recall announcement Thursday that the plastic rings that bind the books can detach from the books and pose a choking hazard.
The books were sold both individually and in sets of four at school book fairs, online and at stores like Barnes & Noble, Sam’s Club and Target between March 2022 and August 2023. Individual books retailed for $10 and $11 while the four-book set was sold for about $21.
Those in possession of the recalled books are being advised to stop using them immediately. Customers can contact Make Believe Ideas Ltd. at www.recallrtr.com/rr and register for a refund in the form of a gift card. Make Believe Ideas said it would provide instructions on how to dispose of the recalled books after customers register for a refund.
According to the CPSC, Make Believe Ideas has received reports of two incidents where the books’ plastic rings came off in the U.S. and Australia, but no injuries have been reported.
ABC News has reached out to Make Believe Ideas for comment on the recall but has not yet received a response.
The company said on its recall website’s frequently asked questions page that “this situation is rare.”
“At MBI, your child’s safety is our highest concern,” the company wrote. “Our products are tested to exacting safety standards before being offered for sale.”
(NEW YORK) — Six years after Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico, flooding whole towns and leaving 80% of the island without power, some residents and businesses have taken matters into their own hands and are taking care of the island’s locals.
Casa Pueblo, a 43-year-old nonprofit environmental group, is located in the town of Adjuntas and managed to keep its lights on after Hurricane Maria because it was run by solar power. The building, which had a solar power unit installed in 1999, became a community hub for people waiting weeks for the island’s grid operators to restore power.
Arturo Massol-Deyá, the organization’s executive director, told ABC News that he and others in the village have been promoting solar to other parts of the island in an attempt to cut down on Puerto Rico’s dependence on fossil fuel.
“That’s the new narrative, that’s the future that we are building in Adjuntas,” he said.
Brenda Costa Torres, an Adjuntas resident who undergoes dialysis treatment and was aided by Casa Pueblo’s power, told ABC News she agreed.
She said there needs to be a focus on efforts like solar power because everyone on the island benefits from it.
“And we help the planet which is important,” she said.
Economic independence has been a struggle in Puerto Rico for over a century.
The 1920 Jones Act states that “goods carried between two U.S. ports by water must be carried in a U.S. flag vessel that is American built, owned, controlled and crewed,” and because of this regulation, goods in Puerto Rico cost more due to the rising transportation costs.
To counter this roadblock, Puerto Rican farmers, stores and restaurants have been increasing their farm-to-table operations.
Efren Robles, the co-founder of the family farm Frutos del Guacabo, told ABC News he has been educating people on the island about the economic benefits of growing their own food.
“The main purpose of it is that people come and understand a little bit about what happens on a farm and how can they be a part of this local ecosystem,” Robles said of his farm.
After the hurricane, Robles said he was devastated seeing farm soil and crops ruined.
About 80% of the island’s crop value was destroyed in the storm, which represented a $780 million loss in agricultural yields, according to officials.
“In that moment, we knew that we had something really big going on,” Robles said.
Frutos del Guacabo is a hydroponic farm, which relies on water to transfer nutrients to plants rather than soil. It was one of the first farms to start producing crops after the storm, according to Robles.
“One hundred seventy-seven days after, I will never forget that day, we decided to start producing, [and] start delivering again, whatever we had,” he said. “It was the best learning experience.”
Robles shares what he’s learned with other producers on the island in hopes of creating a local independent food chain from Boricua farm to Boricua table.
ABC News’ Armando Garcia and Victoria Moll-Ramirez contributed to this report.
(HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla.) — Six people are dead after a freight train slammed into an SUV carrying seven at a crossing in Hillsborough County, Florida, on Saturday evening, law enforcement officials said.
The dead, which included three adults and three children, were members of a family and a friend of the family’s children, officials said.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister described a horrific scene, comparing the SUV to a crushed can in the aftermath of the crash.
“This tragic loss is immense, and the members of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and I are praying for peace and comfort for all those impacted,” he said in a statement.
Jose G. Hernandez, 52, was driving a white Cadillac Escalade southbound toward a train crossing at about 7 p.m. on Saturday evening, officials said.
“For unknown and undetermined reasons, the driver slowly crossed the tracks directly in the train’s path,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Sunday. “Five rear passengers were ejected from the Escalade as it rotated and rolled to final rest.”
The SUV “flipped violently several times” and landed “a distance” from the initial impact at the crossing, Chronister said, citing a video of the collision.
The jaws of life were used to rescue Hernandez and a front passenger, who were both transported to Lakeland Regional Hospital, where they were both listed in critical condition, the sheriff’s office said. Hernandez later died at the hospital, officials said.
The other five passengers were violently ejected from the SUV and were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Officials said the dead included the driver’s wife, Enedelia Hernandez, 50.
Three of the couple’s children and one of the children’s friends were killed, law enforcement said. Their names were Anaelia Hernandez, 22; Alyssa Hernandez, 17; Julian Hernandez, 9; and Jakub A. Lopez, 17, officials said.
The name and age of the passenger who was transported to the hospital were not released publicly.
The crash scene was near the intersection of U.S. Route 92 and Jim Lefler Circle. Chronister said the victims were believed to have been en route to a quinceañera at a home just across the railroad crossing.
Members of the sheriff’s Victim Specialist Unit had been asked to provide resources for those close to the Hernandez family, the sheriff’s office said.
“Those impacted by this devastating loss were met with compassion and the highest level of professionalism while trying to navigate the unspeakable,” Chronister said.
ABC News’ Mariama Jalloh contributed to this story.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — Five people were killed Saturday evening when a freight train slammed into an SUV carrying seven at a crossing in Hillsborough County, Florida, law enforcement officials said.
The dead, which included three adults and two children, were believed to have been family members, officials said. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister described a horrific scene, comparing the SUV to crushed can in the aftermath of the crash.
Upon impact, the SUV “flipped violently several times before it landed a distance from this crossing,” Chronister said in recounting the collision after viewing video.
The jaws of life were used to rescue the driver and a front passenger, who were both transported to an area hospital, listed as in critical condition, the sheriff’s office said.
The other five passengers were violently ejected from the SUV and are deceased, officials said. Three women and two boys were killed, officials said.
“The exact dynamic between and the relations between all seven of the individuals that are in this car we’re still working through, but I believe tonight Hillsborough County lost one of its families,” Chronister said.
Chronister said the victims are believed to be a local Plant City family who were en route to a quinceañera at a home just across the railroad crossing.
The crash scene was near the intersection of U.S. Route 92 and Jim Lefler Circle.
ABC News’ Mariama Jalloh contributed to this story.
(NEW YORK) — A seven-year-long NASA mission has come to an end with the first asteroid sample collected in space.
This capsule, the size of a microwave oven, landed safely on Sunday morning to a crowd of cheering spectators — a bit earlier than planned but exactly in the manner it was supposed to land.
Before it landed, the capsule’s cover was ejected at 102,000 feet above Earth’s atmosphere, and rogue parachutes were deployed to stabilize it.
Operations for the capsule have begun. It will take several hours to recover and process it, officials said.
Back in September 2016, the federal space agency launched the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on a daring mission to snare a batch of rocks from the asteroid Bennu, located about 200 million miles away.
The spacecraft is now heading back into Earth’s orbit now and will jettison its cargo over the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. If successfully performed, it will release a capsule containing nearly nine ounces of rock and soil believed to be 4.5 billion years old.
OSIRIS-REx will be visible above Salt Lake City at 6:41 a.m. ET and will release its capsule 63,000 miles above Earth about a minute later.
The spacecraft will then fly in tandem for 20 minutes before firing its thrusters to head off onto its next mission to the asteroid Adophis, reaching it in 2029.
NASA will air a live stream of the delivery beginning at 10 a.m. ET and the capsule will enter Earth’s atmosphere around 10:42 a.m. ET. The canister cover will be ejected at 102,000 feet and the drogue parachutes will then be deployed to stabilize the capsule.
Finally, the capsule has a projected lading in the Utah dessert at 10:55 a.m. ET.
If OSIRIS-REx does not make this window, the next attempt would be in 2025 because that’s when it will next orbit Earth.
Nicole Lunning, lead OSIRIS-REx sample curator — who is responsible for taking care of the sample after landing — said it could change what we know about the origins of the solar system.
“This sample is so important because it’s really going to give us a new insight into understanding how our solar system formed and the building blocks of life that may have been contributed to the planets on Earth as well as if we have life elsewhere in our solar system,” she told ABC News.
To be mindful about organic contaminants, the samples will be stored in a hyper clean room built just for the mission in Building 31 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where all the Apollo moon rocks were also processed.
Lunning said that just about any scientist from the broader community who requests a sample will be able to receive one as soon as possible.
“There are hundreds of scientists around the world who are super excited to be able to study these samples to answer new scientific questions that we haven’t been able to answer with the samples that we have on Earth right now,” she said.
This is not the first time NASA has attempted a sample return mission. In 2004, NASA’s Genesis was returning to Earth after collecting solar wind particles when Its drogue parachute did not deploy, and it crashed in Utah. Most of the samples were damaged but some were successfully recovered.
Two years later, another sample return mission, Stardust, landed successfully after collecting samples from Comet Wild 2 and interstellar dust.
(TEXAS) — The family of a Black Texas high school student who was suspended over his dreadlocks filed a federal lawsuit Saturday against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton for allegedly not enforcing the state’s CROWN Act, a law which protects from hair discrimination.
The family filed the complaint alleging that Darryl George, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, has been subjected to “improper discipline and abrogation of both his Constitutional and state rights,” as a result of the governor’s and the AG’s failure to provide equal protection and due process under the law for the plaintiffs; ensuring school districts and schools refrain from discrimination based on race and sex and from using the Crown Act of Texas to cause outright race and discrimination, according to a copy of the lawsuit ABC News obtained.
ABC News’ requests for comments from Abbott and Paxton were not immediately answered.
Darryl George has been sitting on a small stool at school every school day since Aug. 31, back aching, as he receives his schoolwork online or through a classmate, according to his mother Darresha George. The school claimed that his dreadlocks violated their dress and grooming code. He was recently issued an additional five days of in-school suspension (ISS) after already serving weeks of ISS.
“Every day my son comes home with tears in his eyes. He’s frustrated; he’s outraged, aggravated, and it’s breaking him down mentally, physically and emotionally,” Darresha George told ABC News. “I have to see him taking ibuprofen because his back hurts.”
Texas enacted the CROWN Act on Sept. 1, making it unlawful to discriminate against “protective hairstyles” in schools, Allie Booker, Darresha George’s attorney, told ABC News.
“Any student dress or grooming policy adopted by a school district, including a student dress or grooming policy for any extracurricular activity, may not discriminate against a hair texture or protective hairstyle commonly or historically associated with race,” according to the CROWN Act. “‘Protective hairstyle’ includes braids, locks and twists.'”
The CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” was passed with a bipartisan vote in the Texas legislature and signed into law by Abbott in May.
State Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Houston), who was one of the authors of the Texas CROWN Act, told ABC News in an interview that he has spoken with the family and offered his support.
“We’re going to protect him. They’re not in it alone. So, we as the Texas Legislative Black Caucus stand behind him,” Reynolds said. “This was one of our top five legislative priorities this session, and we fought like hell to pass it and we won’t go quietly in the night.”
If the state doesn’t step in to release Darryl George from the school district’s disciplinary actions, Reynolds told ABC News that he will appeal to the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. He hopes the issue is resolved amicably, but if not, he has already had conversations with members of the Congressional Black Caucus who are ready to aid in the fight.
The school district sent ABC News a statement from Barbers Hill Independent School District Superintendent Greg Pool, which they emailed to students and their families last Wednesday.
“We recently had a mother bring her children from a neighboring district that has a different dress code than ours, knowing what our expectations are. She has utilized the media to present her case that we are unfairly treating her child,” the statement from the superintendent reads in part. “My high school son doesn’t like to cut his hair. You perhaps deal with the same issue in your household. Regardless, these same rules have existed longer than my time at Barbers Hill and the rules are applicable to ALL students unless they have legitimate reasons for a religious exemption.”
Reynolds told ABC News that the school district is stuck in the past, and that times have changed where it is common for males to wear longer hair than what used to be traditionally accepted by the status quo.
“There used to be where girls couldn’t wear pants, right?” Reynolds said. “I mean this is 2023. I’m sorry Barbers Hill [Independent School District]. You have to wake up.”
The school district told ABC News in a statement that their dress and grooming code does not conflict with the CROWN Act.
“The Barbers Hill ISD Dress and Grooming Code permits protective hairstyles, but any hairstyle must be in conformity with the requirement that male students’ hair will not extend, at any time, below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes,” the school district told ABC News in a statement. “Further, male students’ hair must not extend below the top of a t-shirt collar or be gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below the top of a t-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes when let down.”
The school district told ABC News in a statement that on Wednesday they filed a lawsuit in the judicial system of Texas to help them clarify the terms of the CROWN Act and whether the length of hair is a factor in the law. Reynolds said that clarification should have been made before they put a teenage boy through weeks of disciplinary actions.
Booker told ABC News that the family plans to file a discrimination lawsuit and an injunction to get Darryl George out of ISS.
Darresha George told ABC News that the school district is trivializing her son’s dreadlocks by labeling them as a violation of the district’s dress code. His locks are a representation of his culture and spirituality, Darresha George said.
“It’s part of his roots, part of his ancestors,” his mother said. “At the ends of his hair, we have his dad’s hair, his stepdad’s hair, and his brother’s hair actually sewn into his locks. So, cutting that off is cutting them off from him.”
