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Israel takes control of Rafah, creating new ‘security corridor’ in Gaza

April 12, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(RAFAH GOVERNORATE, Gaza) — Israel announced Saturday that its military has completed the establishment of a new security corridor in the Gaza Strip, effectively taking full control over the southern city of Rafah — which Israel had ordered evacuated — and cutting it off from the rest of the Palestinian territory.

“The IDF has now completed the takeover of the Morag axis that crosses Gaza between Rafah and Khan Yunis and makes the entire area between the Philadelphi axis and Morag part of the Israeli security zone,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. “IDF activity will soon expand strongly to additional locations throughout most of Gaza and you will have to evacuate the fighting zones.”

Over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel ended the ceasefire on March 18. In total, nearly 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation orders for large swaths of war-torn Gaza, including parts of Khan Yunis and almost all of Rafah.

The IDF has been expanding its operations in Gaza since it ended the ceasefire in March, earlier this month saying it will capture extensive territories. On April 2, Katz said they will “seize large areas that will be annexed to the security zones of the State of Israel.”

Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation orders for large swaths of war-torn Gaza, including parts of Khan Yunis and almost all of Rafah.

This came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the establishment of the so-called Morag Corridor, describing it as “a second Philadelphi Corridor” that would further divide Gaza and increase pressure on Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages.

The so-called Philadelphi Corridor refers to a narrow strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt that has been under Israeli control since May 2024.

The IDF said Israeli troops were operating in some areas between Rafah and Khan Yunis where they had never operated previously and that the strategy behind establishing the new security corridor was to separate Hamas fighters in Rafah from Khan Yunis, spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said at a press briefing last week.

The IDF said on Saturday that it had “eliminated dozens of terrorists, dismantled underground tunnel routes and Hamas terror infrastructure, and completed the encirclement of Rafah,” in the last week and a half.

In an address to Palestinians in Gaza following the completion of the Morag axis, Katz said the IDF is already continuing to expand its territory in Gaza.

“This is the last moment to remove Hamas and release all the hostages and bring about an end to the war – IDF activity will soon expand vigorously to additional locations throughout most of Gaza,” he said.

“In northern Gaza, residents are also evacuating in Beit Hanoun and other neighborhoods and the area is being taken, expanding the security zone and in the Netzarim Corridor. IDF activity will soon expand strongly to additional locations throughout most of Gaza and you will have to evacuate the fighting zones,” Katz said.

Last week, the IDF said at a press briefing that the only thing that can halt the IDF’s advance in Gaza is the release of hostages.

Katz reiterated support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to forcibly expel Palestinians in Gaza and said they are working toward making it possible for Palestinians in Gaza to “voluntarily move to various countries around the world.”

In February, Trump departed from decades of U.S. foreign policy, announcing that the U.S. would “clean out” the Gaza Strip and rebuild it, saying Palestinians living there should leave — a statement that the United Nations and allies, including France and Germany, have called a violation of international law and said it amounts to ethnic cleansing.

Trump at one point threatened to withdraw aid to Egypt and Jordan if they didn’t agree to take in Palestinians, though less than 24 hours later, he said, “I don’t have to threaten that, I don’t think. I think we’re above that.”

Egypt and Jordan have both firmly opposed taking in forcibly displaced Palestinians.

Military academies criticized for removing DEI-related books from libraries

April 12, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(ANNAPOLIS, Md.) — At the U.S. Naval Academy, it’s not what’s on the shelves that’s drawing attention — but what’s missing.

The institution’s Nimitz Library has been stripped of 381 titles, according to a list published in the New York Times, including works exploring race, gender, and national identity.

The culling includes “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, “Bodies in Doubt” by Elizabeth Reis, and “White Rage” by Carol Anderson. None was banned outright — just rendered “not immediately available,” a Naval Academy spokesman, Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, said. The books, he said, had been placed in a room where patrons could no longer access them.

President Donald Trump’s Jan. 29 executive order titled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” has been extended to cover the country’s military academies. With language targeting what it called “discriminatory equity ideology” and “gender ideology” — which he later called “the tyranny of so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies” — the order set in motion extensive removals, reviews and institutional confusion.

“There isn’t any clear criteria,” Katherine Kuzminski, director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security, told ABC News. “It leaves leadership scrambling — how do we ensure compliance without being accused of overcorrecting?”

Kuzminski said military leaders, bound by a strict code to obey lawful orders, are grappling with what she called the ambiguity of the policy. “Particularly in the Air Force,” she noted, “when the Tuskegee Airmen learning module was removed from basic training for a few days, leadership was trying to follow through with the best of intentions.”

Department of the Navy leadership determined which books required removal at the Naval Academy library, Hawkins told ABC News.

Initially, officials searched the Nimitz Library catalog, using key word searches, to identify books that required further review, Hawkins said. Approximately 900 books were identified during the preliminary search, he said, and department officials then closely examined the preliminary list to determine which books required removal to comply with directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president.

That ultimately resulted in nearly 400 books being selected for removal from the Nimitz Library collection, he said.

Historians and former military officials told ABC News the implications are chilling. Richard Kohn, a military historian and former chief historian for the Air Force, sees the move as a “cleansing” effort. “It reveals a certain kind of weakness in the current administration’s confidence,” he said. “They’re determined to appeal to their MAGA constituency by rolling back decades of progress on race, religion, and diversity.”

For Kohn, removing these books from the shelves sends a clear message to cadets: To get ahead in the military, avoid certain ideas.

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Thomas Keaney, a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced international Studies, spoke about how far the academies have come — and how far he said they risk falling back. “When I was there,” he said, “it was a whites-only institution,” he said of the U.S. Air Force Academy. “It was the poorer for it.” Education, he insisted, is about exposure. “You are not harming people by letting them read,” he said.

In a letter to the secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, Democratic Reps. Adam Smith and Chrissy Houlahan called the book removals “a blatant attack on the First Amendment” and “an alarming return to McCarthy-era censorship.”

They demanded to know who ordered the removals, the process used and which titles were being purged, while urging an immediate halt.

The academies have issued carefully worded responses — or none at all — when asked by ABC News for comment.

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy did not respond to repeated requests. The U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Academy issued brief statements affirming compliance with executive orders but offered few specifics.

“The Coast Guard Academy is conducting a comprehensive review of its curriculum to ensure compliance with all executive orders,” a spokesperson said.

The U.S. Naval Academy spokesman confirmed that “nearly 400 books” had been removed from its Nimitz Library, explaining the move as an effort “to ensure compliance with all directives outlined in Executive Orders issued by the President.”

He emphasized what he called the library’s robust collection — some 590,000 print books and thousands of academic resources — framing the book removals as minor compared to the size of the overall collection. “The Naval Academy’s mission,” the spokesperson added, “is to develop Midshipmen morally, mentally and physically … to prepare them for careers of service to our country.”

At the U.S. Air Force Academy, a spokesperson noted that a curriculum review was underway “to ensure our compliance with executive orders.”

But outside voices in military academic circles warned that the issue goes beyond compliance, saying it strikes at the core of intellectual development.

“You can’t make ideas safe for people, but you can make people safe for ideas,” said Kohn, who specializes in civil-military relations. “If you don’t mentor students in the academies to understand what’s going on in American society, you don’t really educate them.”

Keaney, the former U.S. Air Force officer, was more circumspect but equally concerned. “I don’t think anyone is going to be hurt by reading anything — however nutty or outside their own culture it is,” he said. “You’re not harming people by exposing them to ideas. On the contrary, you’re training them to be discerning leaders. Give them a chance. Don’t leave them to deal from ignorance.”

What to know about getting a REAL ID as airport requirement deadline nears

April 12, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — In less than a month, beginning on May 7, travelers flying out of United States airports will need to show TSA agents their REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, or another form of compliant identification to pass through security and make their flight. If they don’t bring a REAL ID, they could face delays, additional screening, or may not be permitted through the checkpoint, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The REAL ID roll-out, which has been delayed multiple times since the original deadline in 2008, has left some travelers confused about their states’ requirements and panicked as they try to make appointments at overwhelmed DMVs.

According to federal documents, as of January 2024, only about 56% of driver’s licenses and IDs in circulation across the country complied with REAL ID.

The Department of Homeland Security estimated that only 61.2% of driver’s licenses and IDs will be compliant by the May 7 deadline. A TSA spokesperson told ABC News that 81% of travelers going through TSA checkpoints currently have REAL IDs or other compliant identification.

If you haven’t gotten your REAL ID license yet, here’s what to know as the deadline approaches:

DMVs are slammed

Department of Motor Vehicles nationwide are reporting long wait times as travelers scramble to get their REAL ID driver’s licenses, but some are offering solutions for people looking for last-minute appointments.

Some New York DMVs will stay open later on Thursdays and release new available time slots daily.

They will also process REAL ID applications at the New York International Auto Show, from April 18 through April 27 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced that 18 offices across the state would open earlier four days a week for REAL ID appointments. Illinois created a “Real ID Supercenter” for walk-ins.

“You may have to just do the old-fashioned thing, and every morning, refresh your browser and see if any appointments have opened up,” said Aixa Diaz, AAA spokesperson. “Inevitably, like with doctors’ appointments, there will be cancellations.”

Diaz warned that applicants will leave their appointment with a temporary paper copy of their ID. TSA won’t accept this as valid, so they’ll have to wait until they receive their actual ID in the mail.

Try AAA

Appointments may also be available at local AAA branches, according to Diaz. Not all AAA offices process REAL ID, and some only offer the service to members, so Diaz urges travelers to call ahead. Applicants may also have to pay an additional fee.

What to bring to your appointment

Applicants can check the Department of Homeland Security website to see their state’s specific requirements and documents they need to bring.

You can still use your passport

A valid passport is compliant identification, so if you’re having trouble booking an appointment, you can still use that after May 7 to go through the TSA checkpoint.

If you show up without a REAL ID, expect delays

If travelers arrive at the airport without compliant identification after May 7, TSA said they could encounter delays and other difficulties at the checkpoint.

“Passengers who present a state-issued identification that is not REAL ID compliant and who do not have another acceptable alternative (i.e., passport) can expect to face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint,” TSA said in a press release.

Trump admin moves to withhold federal funds from Maine over trans athlete dispute

April 12, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Department of Education said Friday that it will proceed with withholding federal funds from Maine after officials in the state refused to sign a Title IX resolution agreement that would bar transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports in the state.

The matter will also be deferred to the Department of Justice “for further enforcement action,” the department said in a statement.

The actions come after the state informed the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in a letter on Friday that the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Office of the Attorney General will not sign the resolution agreement.

“Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls’ and women’s sports teams,” Maine Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster stated in the letter. “Your letters to date do not cite a single case that so holds. To the contrary, various federal courts have held that Title IX and/or the Equal Protection Clause require schools to allow such participation.”

Federal officials last month said they found the Maine Department of Education in noncompliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order issued on Feb. 5 that bans transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.

In a final warning letter sent to the state on March 31, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights gave the Maine Department of Education until April 11 to sign the resolution agreement before moving forward with the consequences for noncompliance.

The Department of Education said Friday it will now “initiate an administrative proceeding to adjudicate termination of MDOE’s federal K-12 education funding, including formula and discretionary grants,” as well as refer the case to the DOJ.

“The Department has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state’s leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students’ safety, privacy, and dignity,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement on Friday. “The Maine Department of Education will now have to defend its discriminatory practices before a Department administrative law judge and in a federal court against the Justice Department.”

Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills “would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom — be careful what you wish for. Now she will see the Trump Administration in court,” he added.

Mills previously told Trump she would see him in court over the matter at a White House event with a bipartisan group of governors in February.

As Trump discussed his executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, he asked Mills directly, “Are you not going to comply with that?”

She responded that she would comply with state and federal laws.

“Well, I’m — we are the federal law,” Trump said, adding, “Well, you better do it. You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.”

Mills responded: “See you in court.”

“Good,” Trump replied. “I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be an easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”

After the White House gathering, Mills responded to Trump’s threat to withhold federal funding in a statement, saying, “If the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides. The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President’s threats.”

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Alexandra Hutzler, and Jack Moore contributed to this report.

‘Nothing has been done’: Judge slams DOJ in case of wrongly deported man

April 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The federal judge overseeing the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador in error, slammed the government’s handling of the case Friday and ordered the Justice Department to provide her with “daily updates” on its efforts to bring him back.

“From now until compliance, [I am] going to require daily statuses, daily updates,” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said at a hearing in Maryland on Friday. “We’re going to make a record of what, if anything, the government is doing or not doing.”

The judge said she will require updates on Abrego Garcia’s location, what steps the Trump administration has taken to facilitate his return, and what additional steps the government will take to return him.

The judge said the Supreme Court, in its ruling on the matter late Thursday, was quite clear in directing the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia.

“The Supreme Court has spoken quite clearly,” Judge Xinis said. “And yet, I can’t get an answer today about what you’ve done in the past, which means, again, the record as it stands, is that nothing has been done.”

Judge Xinis began the hearing by asking the government to answer where Kilmer Armando Abrego Garcia is — but Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign told the judge that he does “not have the information” regarding Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts.

“Where is he and under whose authority?” Xinis repeatedly asked.

“I do not have that knowledge, and therefore I cannot relate that knowledge,” Ensign said.

“I’m not asking for state secrets, I’m asking where one man who is wrongly and illegally deported, removed from this country [is],” Xinis said.

“Your Honor, I do not have the information provided to me that I can provide to you,” Ensign said again.

The judge decided to go ahead with Friday’s hearing after the Trump administration sought to delay the hearing until next week. The Justice Department on Friday morning asked her to reschedule the hearing for Wednesday, April 16, two days after El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is scheduled to meet with the White House — but the judge, in a filing, kept the hearing date as scheduled.

Judge Xinis scheduled the hearing after the U.S. Supreme late Thursday affirmed her earlier ruling ordering the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States after he was mistakenly sent to an El Salvador prison last month.

Judge Xinis had also ordered the Trump administration to file, by 9:30 a.m. ET Friday, a supplemental declaration from an individual with personal knowledge acknowledging the current physical location of Abrego Garcia and what steps the administration will take to facilitate his immediate return.

Attorneys for DOJ requested the deadline for the supplemental declaration be moved to next week, but in her filing the judge moved the deadline back by only two hours. In response, the DOJ told Judge Xinis in a filing that they were unable to provide her the information she requested on such a short deadline.

“In light of the insufficient amount of time afforded to review the Supreme Court’s Order following the dissolution of the administrative stay in this case, Defendants are not in a position where they ‘can’ share any information requested by the Court. That is the reality,” the DOJ’s filing said.

“It is unreasonable and impracticable for Defendants to reveal potential steps before those steps are reviewed, agreed upon, and vetted,” they added. “Foreign affairs cannot operate on judicial timelines, in part because it involves sensitive country-specific considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review.”

The Supreme Court on Thursday largely upheld Judge Xinis’ ruling last week ordering the Trump administration to bring Abrego Garcia back.

“The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” the Supreme Court’s unsigned order stated.

Abrego Garcia — despite having protected legal status preventing his deportation to El Salvador, where his attorneys say he escaped political violence in 2011 — was sent to that country’s notorious CECOT mega-prison following what the government said was an “administrative error.”

The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyers and his wife deny, and argued in legal filings that because Abrego Garcia is no longer in U.S. custody, the courts cannot order him to be returned to the U.S. nor order El Salvador to return him.

In response to the Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration has emphasized its role in carrying out foreign policy, which was also cited in the high court’s order.

The Supreme Court said the lower-court judge should “clarify” her earlier order “with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”

In a statement, a Justice Department spokesman said: “As the Supreme Court correctly recognized, it is the exclusive prerogative of the President to conduct foreign affairs. By directly noting the deference owed to the Executive Branch, this ruling once again illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the President’s authority to conduct foreign policy.”

Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, the attorney for Abrego Garcia told ABC News that “the rule of law prevailed.”

“The Supreme Court upheld the District Judge’s order that the government has to bring Kilmar home,” said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. “Now they need to stop wasting time and get moving.”

ABC News’ Alexander Mallin and Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

DOJ lawyer tells judge he doesn’t know whereabouts of mistakenly deported Maryland man

April 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A deputy assistant attorney general told the judge overseeing the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador in error, that he does “not have the information” regarding Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis began a hearing Friday on Abrego Garcia’s deportation by asking the government to answer where Kilmer Armando Abrego Garcia is.

“Where is he and under whose authority?” she repeatedly asked.

“I do not have that knowledge, and therefore I cannot relate that knowledge,” DOJ attorney Drew Ensign said.

“I’m not asking for state secrets, I’m asking where one man who is wrongly and illegally deported, removed from this country [is],” Xinis said.

“Your Honor, I do not have the information provided to me that I can provide to you,” Ensign said again.

Xinis, at the start of the hearing, said has three questions for DOJ: The current physical location and custodial status of Abrego Garcia, what steps the Trump administration has taken to facilitate his return, and what additional steps the government will take and when to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

The Supreme Court on Thursday largely upheld Judge Xinis’ ruling last week ordering the Trump administration to bring Abrego Garcia back.

In response to the Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration has emphasized its role in carrying out foreign policy, which was also cited in the high court’s order.

Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, the attorney for Abrego Garcia told ABC News that “the rule of law prevailed.”

“The Supreme Court upheld the District Judge’s order that the government has to bring Kilmar home,” said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. “Now they need to stop wasting time and get moving.”

ABC News’ Alexander Mallin and Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

US stocks climb, shrugging off China trade war and consumer fears

April 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, shrugging off new Chinese tariffs on American goods that intensified a trade war between the two largest economies in the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 440 points, or 1.1%, while the S&P 500 surged 1.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 1.6%.

Meanwhile, a selloff of 10-year Treasuries sent yields climbing to 4.46%. That figure neared a recent high attained hours before President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday a 90-day delay of so-called “reciprocal tariffs” for most U.S. trade partners.

A University of Michigan survey of shopper sentiment on Friday showed consumer attitudes fell more than expected in April, dropping to a level lower than any recorded during the Great Recession.

The market turmoil Friday morning came after China issued a 125% U.S. tariff, though Beijing said it would not increase tariffs further. The move came in response to a 145% tariff on Chinese goods announced by Trump earlier this week.

Larry Fink, the CEO of financial firm BlackRock, which manages about $11.5 trillion in assets, warned that the U.S. economy is poised for a downturn.

“I think we’re very close, if not in, a recession now,” Fink told CNBC.

In a social media post on Friday, Trump signaled confidence.

“We are doing really well on our TARIFF POLICY. Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” Trump said on Truth Social.

U.S. markets closed Thursday with notable losses, a reversal from the enthusiasm unleashed by Trump’s Wednesday decision to pause some tariffs.

Several Asian stock markets slid back into the red on Friday morning, reversing gains made on Thursday amid continued uncertainty as to whether nations would be able to secure deals with Trump to avoid long-term tariffs — and as China announced new retaliatory tariffs on American goods.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 3.8% and Japan’s broader TOPIX index fell 3.5%. In South Korea, the KOSPI dropped nearly 1% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.95%.

In China, markets fluctuated as investors responded to the White House clarifying that the level of tariffs on Chinese goods is now 145% — not 125% as previously believed.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2%, Shanghai’s Composite Index rose 0.6% and Shenzen’s Component Index rose 1.2%, with investors buoyed by Beijing’s announcement of stimulus measures to bolster the economy against the escalating American tariffs.

Other prominent Asia indices in the green on Friday included Taiwan’s Taiex index up 2.7% and India’s NIFTY 50 up 1.9%.

European markets appeared hesitant upon opening and slipped after China announced it would increase tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% from Saturday.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.3%, Germany’s DAX fell 0.2%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.16% and Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.03%.

On Thursday, Trump again hinted at the resumption of his sweeping tariffs.

“If we can’t make the deal we want to make or we have to make or that’s, you know, good for both parties — it’s got to be good for both parties — then we go back to where we were,” Trump said.

When asked if he would extend the 90-day pause, the president responded, “We’ll have to see what happens at the time.”

US reports highest number of measles cases since 2019: CDC

April 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The U.S. has recorded the highest number of measles cases since 2019, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published Friday.

There are now 712 confirmed measles cases across 24 states, an increase of 105 cases from the prior week, the CDC said.

There were 1,274 reported cases in all of 2019.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Small plane crashes in Boca Raton, Florida; all 3 on board killed

April 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(BOCA RATON, Fla.) — All three people on board a small plane were killed when the aircraft crashed in Boca Raton, Florida, on Friday morning, according to local officials and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The “aircraft had apparently some mechanical issues and went down here on Military Trail,” Michael LaSalle, assistant fire chief for Boca Fire Rescue, said at a news conference. “Also, there was a car on the ground.”

One man in the car suffered non-life-threatening injuries, LaSalle said.

The Cessna 310R took off from Boca Raton Airport and was heading to Tallahassee International Airport, the FAA said. It was in the air for a little less than 20 minutes before it crashed, according to Flightradar24.

Dillon Smith was at his office when he saw the plane flying “extremely low” and appearing like it would hit the roof of a nearby building, he told West Palm Beach ABC affiliate WPBF.

“I saw the plane, basically, turn, come back, and I heard it and saw it go over our building,” Smith said.

He lost sight of the plane, but said it then “came back — it was looking like maybe it was going toward the [nearby Boca Raton] airport.”

“I just saw it drop below the trees” and “heard a boom,” Smith said. He said his office windows shook and he saw a “fireball.”

Video shows what appears to be the small plane’s wreckage on railroad tracks next to a road. The fire caused by the crash has been extinguished.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Small plane crashes in Boca Raton, Florida; 3 people on board

April 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(BOCA RATON, Fla.) — A small plane with three people on board crashed in Boca Raton, Florida, on Friday morning, according to local police and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Dillon Smith was at his office when he saw the plane flying “extremely low” and appearing like it would hit the roof of a nearby building, he told West Palm Beach ABC affiliate WPBF.

“I saw the plane, basically, turn, come back, and I heard it and saw it go over our building,” Smith said.

He lost sight of the plane, but said it then “came back — it was looking like maybe it was going toward the [nearby Boca Raton] airport.”

“I just saw it drop below the trees” and “heard a boom,” Smith said. He said his office windows shook and he saw a “fireball.”

Video shows what appears to be the small plane’s wreckage on railroad tracks next to a road. The fire caused by the crash has been extinguished.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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