Ella Langley & Riley Green (Disney/Frank Micelotta)
Ella Langley made history on Wednesday night, as “you look like you love me” became the first song ever to win single, song, music video and musical event of the year.
Of course, the winning ways of the Riley Green duet started in 2024, when the two each won their first CMA trophies for musical event. They were nominated for the honor again for their current hit together, “Don’t Mind If I Do,” though Blake Shelton and Post Malone triumphed with “Pour Me a Drink.”
Ella went into the night tied for the most nominations with six and ended up winning in three categories thanks to her triple-Platinum breakthrough hit.
The CMA Awards 2025 also brought the TV debut of her latest hit, “Choosin’ Texas,” the first taste of her sophomore album, which is on the horizon for 2026.
(WASHINGTON) — Friday will mark the first time that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump will meet face to face following a war of words between the two leaders throughout Mamdani’s campaign and election.
And while Trump announced the meeting with an insult against the progressive Democrat’s policies, Mamdani has maintained that he is looking forward to the White House meeting to discuss his agenda, including tackling a “national crisis of affordability.”
“I’m not concerned about this meeting. I view this meeting as an opportunity for me to make my case,” Mamdani told reporters Thursday at a news conference.
Trump announced the meeting on Wednesday night on social media, repeating the “communist” label he’s been using against Mamdani, who is a member of the Democratic Socialist group, and putting his middle name, Kwame, in quotes.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he was going to “work something out,” and meet with the mayor-elect in Washington.
“We want to see everything work out well for New York,” he told reporters.
Mamdani has been a vocal critic of the administration over its policies, including increased deportations, cuts to government agencies and attacks on cities run by Democrats.
On election night, the 34-year-old mayor-elect spoke directly to Trump in his acceptance speech and told him to “turn the volume up,” as he vowed to protect immigrants.
“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he said.
Since Mamdani won the June Democratic primary, Trump has spoken out against the state assemblyman, at one point threatening to deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, moved to New York as a child, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018.
“We’re going to be watching that very carefully. And a lot of people are saying, he’s here illegally,” Trump claimed with no evidence in July.
The president has also threatened to withhold federal funding to New York if Mamdani won the election.
Mamdani’s critics have raised skepticism about his proposals, calling them far-fetched and improbable, as some would require state approval. He has also come under fire for his past comments criticizing the NYPD and Israeli government actions in the Gaza conflict.
The mayor-elect has apologized for his comments against the department and vowed to fight for Jewish New Yorkers, while still being critical of the Israeli government’s polices during the conflict.
Mamdani has also repeatedly brushed aside the threats and said he will continue to speak out against the administration’s conservative policies.
“His threats are inevitable,” Mamdani told ABC News a day after the election. “This has nothing to do with safety, it has to do with intimidation.”
At the same time, Mamdani has said he was open to talking with Trump, especially when it comes to affordability issues, noting that Trump won his re-election promising to bring down rising prices.
“I have many disagreements with the president. I intend to make it clear that I will work with him,” Mamdani said Thursday.
The mayor-elect won the election on a campaign to help New Yorkers with costs, with proposals such as raising the income tax on New Yorkers who earn over a million dollars a year, providing free child care to parents with kids as early as six weeks old, and free public buses.
Following Mamdani’s victory and other key wins by Democrats, Trump has said in social media posts and news conferences that he and the Republicans are the party working to lower costs.
“We’re fighting for an economy where everyone can win, from the cashier starting first job to a franchisee opening his first location to the young family in a drive through line,” he told a crowd in Pennsylvania on Monday.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Tonya Simpson contributed to this report
Sen. Adam Schiff departs a Democratic luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on November 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is probing the conduct of at least two top Trump administration officials for allegedly interfering with and potentially jeopardizing the ongoing criminal investigations of the president’s political adversaries, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Sources said the DOJ and FBI are scrutinizing whether U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte enlisted individuals outside the Department of Justice to probe allegations of mortgage fraud amid ongoing investigations of Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
At least one witness in the Schiff investigation has received a grand jury subpoena to hand over any correspondence with Martin’s associates as well as with Pulte himself, sources told ABC News.
In what would be an extraordinary breach of DOJ protocol, Martin is also believed to have shared sensitive grand jury information about the James case with at least one unauthorized individual as well as worked with another person from outside the federal government to examine potential evidence in the Schiff and James probes, sources familiar with the matter said.
At least one witness in the Schiff investigation has received a grand jury subpoena to hand over any correspondence with Martin’s associates as well as with Pulte himself, sources told ABC News.
Senior Trump administration officials have expressed concerns that the potential misconduct may have compromised the investigations and jeopardized the viability of the cases if they proceed to trial.
While Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped Martin as a “special attorney” for mortgage fraud, officials say the alleged rogue conduct — operating outside of the two U.S. attorneys’ offices investigating the cases and usurping the FBI agents assigned to the cases — violates DOJ guidelines and necessitates a full review of Martin’s conduct to determine what would need to be disclosed to defense lawyers.
FBI agents working on the Schiff case discovered the potential problem when they sought to interview Christine Bish, a California politician and realtor who first publicized the allegations of mortgage fraud against Schiff. When FBI agents first made contact with her, Bish expressed confusion about why federal investigators sought to speak with her again, telling agents that she had repeatedly spoken with a man she believed worked for the Department of Justice as Ed Martin’s lead investigator, sources said.
Bish told FBI agents that Robert Bowes — who has publicly claimed to be a financial fraud expert with the Office of Personnel Management assigned to work with the Department of Justice on mortgage fraud matters — reached out to her a month earlier via a direct message on X to request an interview, according to sources.
Without the knowledge of the FBI or Maryland prosecutors, Bowes spoke with Bish — who is thought to be a central witness in the Schiff case — on multiple occasions during which she provided information on the case, sources said.
A man named Scott Strauss — a private citizen who is believed to be working with Martin — also reached out to Bish to request that she send the documents about Schiff to a private email address, which she declined to do because the request appeared suspicious, the sources said.
Bish, sources said, also told investigators that Pulte had reached out to her directly in July to request the documentation related to her complaint — just days before President Trump shared some of the documentation on social media to claim that Schiff “should be prosecuted.” Pulte has played a central role in the criminal investigations of Trump’s opponents — issuing criminal referrals against James, Schiff, and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — and recently dismissed Fannie Mae watchdogs who were probing how he obtained the mortgage records.
An aide to Martin referred ABC News to the Justice Department’s press office for comment.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department told ABC News, “Anonymous sources seeking to spin or influence ongoing processes do a disservice to the public and to the rule of law.”
Representatives for Pulte, Strauss, and Bish did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. An attorney for Schiff did not respond to a request for comment. Attorneys for James declined to comment.
‘She knows I’m a lunatic’
The concerns about Pulte and Martin’s conduct come as the Department of Justice has accelerated its efforts to investigate and prosecute President Trump’s perceived political foes. Following a public pressure campaign from the president, a Trump-installed U.S. attorney indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey over the objections of prosecutors who sources said expressed serious concerns with both cases, sources said. Investigators in Maryland continue to probe Schiff for alleged mortgage fraud.
All three have denied all allegations against them, and Comey and James pleaded not guilty after they were charged. Defense lawyers have challenged the cases against James and Comey by arguing they would have never been brought had their clients not been vocal critics of President Trump.
James, speaking outside the courthouse following her arraignment, said the justice system under President Trump is being “used as a tool of revenge” and is nothing but a “vehicle of retribution.”
Attorneys for Schiff have called the investigation “politically motivated” and “unsupported by any evidence.”
Prosecutors have not publicly commented on the Schiff matter, but sources say investigators have so far struggled to identify a viable case, in part because the mortgage documents in question are well past the statute of limitations.
After a controversial tenure as the interim U.S. attorney in D.C. when he failed to secure enough Republican support to be confirmed to the permanent position, Martin has only further embraced his status as a partisan warrior for President Trump.
“Attorney General Bondi has been fearless in encouraging me. Like she knows I’m a lunatic — like a wild man — and she [says] keep going, keep going,” Martin recently said on a conservative radio show.
Holding four separate titles — pardon attorney, special attorney for mortgage fraud, associate deputy attorney general, and director of the DOJ’s ‘Weaponization Working Group’ — Martin has often suggested in interviews that he has the full backing of the DOJ leadership, though his self-described “name and shame” approach has resulted in multiple instances of him being privately rebuked by leadership or forced to retract his actions.
Earlier this year, Martin posed for a photoshoot with the New York Post outside the Brooklyn home of Letitia James. Days earlier, he sent a letter to James’ attorney to recommend she resign from office amid his investigation for “the good of the state and nation.” His photoshoot and social media post later earned Martin a rebuke from Attorney General Bondi, as previously reported by ABC News.
In September, Martin sent a letter to a lawyer for an FBI agent who was among the first to respond to the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School to suggest he was under criminal investigation. No such investigation took place, and Martin was ordered to rescind the letter.
“If they can be charged, we’ll charge them,” Martin said before stepping down as the interim U.S. attorney in D.C. “But if they can’t be charged, we will name them. And we will name them, and in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are ashamed.”
‘I started digging’
While Martin was named the special attorney for mortgage fraud, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland have been leading the investigation into whether Schiff committed mortgage fraud related to the purchase of his home in Maryland.
The investigation itself began with a complaint from Bish — a Republican who is running to represent California’s Sixth District in Congress — who alleged that Schiff falsely listed his Maryland home as his “primary residence” on mortgage documents, despite declaring a condo in California as his primary residence.
“I started digging and pulled all of their mortgage documents,” Bish said in an interview last year with Mike Huckabee. “We start looking and seeing all the things that Adam Schiff has been doing, I had to pick the monster, and clearly that is Adam Schiff.”
Over the last two months, prosecutors have sought to corroborate Bish’s allegations by reviewing public records, issuing dozens of subpoenas, and scheduling interviews with key witnesses, including Bish herself.
Pulte first contacted her with a direct message on X in July to request the complaint she had previously filed, sources said.
On the same day that Pulte allegedly reached out to Bish, President Trump took to his social media platform to say that Schiff “needs to be brought to justice” based on the allegations first made in Bish’s complaint.
Just days after Pulte allegedly obtained the supporting documentation from Bish, Trump posted to social media a screenshot of the same materials — including Bish’s own highlighting.
Nearly two months after Pulte’s alleged outreach, Bowes — a former banker who now works for the Office of Personnel Management — contacted her over social media to request an interview. Bish spoke to Bowes on multiple occasions about the Schiff investigation, sources said. Bish said that she believed Bowes worked for the Department of Justice as a lead investigator for Martin, according to sources.
Bowes previously worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration and was nominated to be the Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. A former banker with no legal or prosecutorial experience, Bowes faced criticism following a Wall Street Journal article that reported he disclosed trading stocks and options totaling $671,000 and $3.2 million during his time in government service, and his nomination never came up for a vote in the Senate. Bowes told the Wall Street Journal that he made a mistake and that one year’s filing was too low to require disclosure.
Strauss is a former federal prosecutor who Martin, earlier this year, unsuccessfully attempted to hire to work at the Department of Justice. He spent two years working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida before being reassigned out of the office for attempting to pursue allegations of a voting fraud conspiracy related to the 2020 election. As of November, Strauss was not employed by the federal government.
The FBI has attempted to contact both Bowes and Strauss to understand the scope of their conduct, and prosecutors sent Bish a grand jury subpoena earlier this month to request all her communications with Bowes, Strauss, Pulte, and anyone who represented they were acting at the direction of Pulte or Martin, according to sources.
‘Fighters for justice and goodness’
Since he failed to secure enough support to be confirmed as the chief federal prosecutor in D.C., sources say that Martin has sought a foothold within the Department of Justice to lead the cases against adversaries of the president, including James, Schiff and Cook.
But the investigations of James and Schiff have been one step removed from Martin, who has virtually no experience as a prosecutor, and are instead led by federal prosecutors in Virginia and Maryland.
Earlier this summer, Martin sought to expand his role by recruiting experienced prosecutors from Virginia and New York to join his “Special Attorney Fraud Unit.” Martin sent DOJ officials an email titled “Help Wanted” to encourage prosecutors to join him to be “fighters for justice and goodness and the American way,” according to materials reviewed by ABC News.
“In a special way, the SAFU is called to hold bad actors accountable,” Martin said in his email. “After all, as New York, Attorney General Leticia [sic] James said, ‘Because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.'”
But Strauss has not worked for the federal government since 2020 and lacks DOJ authorization to investigate a private individual, according to sources.
And Bowes — although he works for the Trump administration — lacks the authority to conduct the investigations or review sensitive investigative materials. Bowes is believed to have accessed and reviewed grand jury information related to the James case, sources told ABC News.
Bowes has frequently taken to social media to comment on ongoing matters, including the Schiff case, writing in social media posts this summer that Schiff “violated” Fannie Mae guidelines and sharing a news report that Trump blasted “‘Scam Artist’ Adam Schiff over Possible Mortgage Fraud.” In 2023, Bowes also alleged that Schiff was a “proven liar” and suggested that Schiff engaged in witness tampering. DOJ guidelines prohibit officials from posting about ongoing investigations on social media.
After James pleaded not guilty to the indictment in her case last month, Bowes spoke with Lindell TV to opine on the case against James — in direct violation of DOJ guidelines — while representing himself as an OPM official assigned to the DOJ who worked directly on the James case.
During the interview, Bowes commented about the evidence gathered in the James case and appeared to reference grand jury material.
“She felt very confident [that] she could bend the rules, break the rules, and now it appears that she’s committed some felonies,” Bowes said.
Bowes also commented about what he believes would be an appropriate sentence and how James would fare in prison.
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” Bowes said. “No one is above the law.”
Yes’ 2002 DVD and Blu-ray release, Yes Symphonic Live, is set to be reissued as a new live album.
The 14-song collection features recordings performed during Yes’ 2001 Magnification tour in support of the album of the same name, which was the band’s first album without keyboards and their last with vocalist Jon Anderson.
The tour had Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, lead guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White backed by the European Festival Orchestra, conducted by Wilhelm Keitel. The album features performances of such tracks as “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” “Roundabout” and “I’ve Seen All Good People.” A performance of “Long Distance Runaround” is now streaming on YouTube.
The live album will be released Jan. 23 as a two-CD + Blu-ray set, with the Blu-ray featuring a promotional video for “Don’t Go” and a 30-minute documentary. It will also be released as a four-LP set, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and mastered at half-speed.
(NEW YORK) — A top ICE official struggled to answer questions about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s potential deportation during an evidentiary hearing on Thursday, and admitted that someone else helped draft his sworn declaration submitted in the case.
John Cantu was called to testify about why the government is not planning to deport Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica and is instead preparing to remove him to the West African nation of Liberia.
When pressed by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys about the contents of the sealed declaration regarding the government’s communication with Costa Rica, their client’s preferred country of removal, Cantu said he did not understand parts of his declaration.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers accuse the government of having “cycled through” four third-country destinations — Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana, and now Liberia — without providing “the notice, opportunity to be heard and individualized assessment that due process requires.”
After not being able to answer several questions from Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, Cantu said he received “verbiage” for his declaration from a State Department attorney.
“Sitting here today, you could not tell me whether anyone from the State Department has been in touch with Costa Rica since August 21, to determine whether communications have changed?” asked Sascha Rand, an attorney for Abrego Garcia.
“That’s right,” Cantu replied.
“Mr. Cantu, when you say Costa Rica is not an option for removal … where does that come from?” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis interjected.
“Counsel,” Cantu said referring to the State Department attorney.
“The point has been made that this witness knows zero information about the content of the declaration,” Xinis said.
Cantu later admitted he had no involvement in Abrego Garcia’s case prior to November and said his only involvement was a “five minute Teams call” with the Department of State attorney.
Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which he denies.
He was brought back to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, to which he has pleaded not guilty. His criminal trial is scheduled to begin in January.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation is currently blocked by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis pending the resolution of the habeas case challenging his removal. He is currently in a detention center in Pennsylvania.
His attorneys say the U.S. government has disregarded Abrego Garcia’s “statutory designation” of Costa Rica, despite the country’s previous assurances that it would accept him and give him refugee or resident status.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday called several Democratic veterans “traitors” who should face the death penalty for releasing a joint video where they said that U.S. service members could refuse illegal orders — a move that has prompted some lawmakers to call the president’s rhetoric “dangerous” and “a threat.”
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???,” Trump wrote on social media Thursday morning.
On Thursday morning, Trump reshared a social media post responding to the Washington Examiner’s article about the veteran Democrats, calling for them to be hanged.
In another post, the president said “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
In the video directed at military members, Democratic veterans — including Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly — said that military service members can refuse illegal orders.
“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the congressional Democrats said in the video posted Tuesday.
“The threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from aboard, but from right here right at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders,” the group continued. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
None of the Democrats mentioned any specific illegal orders given to service members.
ABC News reached out to Slotkin’s and Kelly’s offices for comment.
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s rhetoric in his social media posts “makes political violence more likely” and called for Trump to be condemned for his posts.
“Let’s be crystal clear, the president of the United States is calling for the execution of elected officials. This is a threat, and it’s deadly serious,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday. “We have already seen what happens when Donald Trump tells his followers that his political opponents are enemies of the state. Every time Donald Trump posts things like this, he makes political violence more likely.”
Schumer said Trump’s rhetoric could be dangerous in a political contentious environment.
“He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline, every senator, every representative, every American, regardless of party, should condemn this immediately, without qualification, because if we don’t draw a line here, there is no line left to draw,” Schumer said.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul also said rhetoric like this could be dangerous.
“I don’t think it’s a really — a good idea to talk about jailing your political opponents or hanging them or whatever else. I think we have political disagreements and we need to work them out in a political way,” Paul said.
Paul warned the rhetoric in Trump’s posts could inspire violence.
“That kind of rhetoric isn’t good and it stirs up people among us who may not be stable who may think well ‘traitors,’ what do we do with traitors? It’s the death penalty. Maybe I’ll just take matters into my own hands, which is not something we should be encouraging,” Paul said. “So I have a lot of disagreement with Democrats but I try to keep it on a civil level and try not to call any of them ‘traitors’ or anything like that because I think that’s something that could inspire some people among us who aren’t stable.”
House Democratic leaders on Thursday issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s posts on social media, calling on him to delete them “before he gets someone killed.”
“We unequivocally condemn Donald Trump’s disgusting and dangerous death threats against Members of Congress and call on House Republicans to forcefully do the same,” said the statement signed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar.
The Democrats called on Trump to “immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed Trump’s social media comments, telling reporters Thursday that the president did not make a call to incite violence.
“He’s defining a crime,” Johnson said. “He, I’m sure, acknowledges that the attorneys have to figure all that out.”
A reporter pressed the speaker that Trump’s statement contended it was punishable by death.
“What I read was he was defining the crime of sedition,” Johnson said. “That is a factual statement. But obviously attorneys have to parse the language and determine all that.”
Johnson criticized the Democrats involved in the video, calling it a “wildly inappropriate thing for so-called leaders in Congress to do to encourage young troops to disobey orders.”
‘The Cure: The Show of a Lost World’ film poster. (Lost Images/Polydor/Capitol Records/Mercury Studios/Trafalgar Releasing)
The Cure has shared a trailer for the band’s upcoming concert film, The Show of a Lost World.
The teaser, now streaming on YouTube, features footage of Robert Smith and company performing “Endsong,” a track off their latest album, 2024’s Songs of a Lost World.
The Show of a Lost World captures The Cure’s 2024 performance at the Troxy venue in London, during which they performed Songs of a Lost World, their first album in 16 years, in full, as well as another set of songs from throughout their career.
The Show of a Lost World will screen in cinemas worldwide on Dec. 11. A Blu-ray/DVD release is planned for release later in December.
Cover of David Bowie’s ‘Station to Station’ (Rhino)
David Bowie’s 10th studio album, Station to Station, is getting reissued to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
The album is being released as a limited-edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered vinyl, and as a picture disc that comes with a poster reproduction of an archival ad for the album. Both formats will drop on Jan. 23, 2026, 50 years to the day of the original album’s release.
The follow-up to 1975’s Young Americans, Station to Station saw Bowie introduce a new persona, the Thin White Duke. Co-produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin, the rocker was influenced by electronic dance music, as well as a genre of German experimental rock known as krautrock.
Station to Station peaked at #3 on the Billboard album chart and at the time was Bowie’s highest-charting album in the U.S.
The lead single, “Golden Years,” spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #10. The tune would later be used for the soundtrack to the 2001 Heath Ledger movie A Knight’s Tale.
Tyler, The Creator, performs onstage during the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Peacock Theater on November 08, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/WireImage)
Tyler, The Creator‘s impact on music and culture will be celebrated, as he’s been named Apple Music’s Artist of the Year. A press release states he’s had the most worldwide plays, listeners and hours listened on the platform in 2025.
Chromakopia became Apple Music’s most successful album to date, factoring first-day and first-week sales, while Don’t Tap The Glass topped Apple Music’s overall charts in over 55 countries. Apple says 2025 has been Tyler’s best year on the service.
“Tyler continues to prove that anything is possible. His creativity has been incredible all year,” said Zane Lowe, Apple Music’s global creative director, in a statement. “His creative risk-taking is only matched by the care he takes to present it, and he inspires his peers and fans now, just as he will continue to inspire generations to come.”
Tyler thanked fans in his own statement and expressed his appreciation for their support of his music. “This year, for my career, was the biggest so far,” he said. “To be this year’s Apple Music Artist of the Year, it’s sick. I appreciate the love. I appreciate the recognition. It means a lot to me, especially for the music and things that I make.”
He asked fans to “please keep supporting folks who are a bit out of the box for how they do things.”
Tyler’s Camp Flog Gnaw Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday at Dodger Stadium in LA.
Fire and smoke mark where a UPS cargo plane crashed near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on November 04, 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky. Stephen Cohen/Getty Images
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Newly released photos included in a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report on the deadly UPS plane crash in Louisville show the moment the aircraft’s left engine came off during takeoff and ignited.
Federal investigators are focusing on metal fatigue cracks around the engine of the UPS plane that crashed on Nov. 5, killing 14 people, according to a new report by the NTSB.
In a preliminary report released Thursday, the engine is seen flying off the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighter plane’s wing, going up into the air, before a burst of fire engulfs the plane.
The plane was departing Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, and headed to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, when the crash occurred.
The three crew members on board and 11 people on the ground were killed, officials said. Additionally, 23 people on the ground were injured, the NTSB said.
The newly released images in the NTSB report, taken from an airport surveillance video, show the left engine and left pylon separate from the left wing. A fire ignited on the left engine as it went up and over the fuselage, before it hit the ground, the NTSB said.
A fire also ignited “near the area of the left pylon attachment to the wing, which continued until ground impact,” the report stated.
The plane only got about 30 feet above the ground before it crashed in a ball of fire, impacting a storage yard and two buildings, according to the NTSB report.
Upon inspection following the crash, the left engine pylon showed signs of fatigue cracks and over-stress failure, according to the report.
The parts with fatigue cracking were last inspected in October 2021, according to the report. The plane had completed 21,043 flights, and those parts were not scheduled to be inspected until the plane hit 28,000 flights, the report said.
In the wake of the crash, federal authorities are prohibiting all operators of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 planes from flying the aircraft until they are inspected.
The emergency directive from the Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday was “prompted by an accident where the left-hand engine and pylon detached from the airplane during takeoff,” FAA documents said. “The cause of the detachment is currently under investigation. The unsafe condition could result in loss of continued safe flight and landing.”
The NTSB noted in its report that a similar crash involving this type of plane killed over 270 people in Chicago in 1979. American Airlines Flight 191 crashed into an open field after the left engine and pylon assembly and part of the left wing separated from the plane during takeoff, the report said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
