Early warning systems kicked in overnight across Pacific coastal communities after a massive earthquake in eastern Russia triggered a sea surge that reached the Japanese coastline around 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away within about an hour, disaster relief experts said on Wednesday.
Despite daily “tactical pauses” declared by Israeli forces, humanitarian conditions in Gaza remain catastrophic, with children starving, aid workers overwhelmed, and fuel and water supplies critically low, UN humanitarians reported on Wednesday.
People in Haiti have expressed “despair” following the “abrupt suspension” of a wide range of humanitarian services, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, in the Caribbean country.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) raised the alarm on Wednesday over the rising toll of hunger, disease and displacement in various conflict-ridden parts of Sudan.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s east coast at 11:25 a.m. local time Thursday – or 7:25 p.m. ET on Wednesday. This is one of the most powerful quakes on record, according to the United States Geological Survey.
On the top 10 list of earthquakes since 1900, this event would check in at sixth. The most recent earthquake with this high of magnitude in Japan in 2011.
Around the world, ground motion from the earthquake was detected on seismographs, or instruments used to record the motion of the ground during an earthquake.
In Bloomington, Indiana, the seismograph picked up these faint waves. Indiana was 4,500 miles away from the epicenter, so we did not feel anything.
You can find more information about the earthquake by visiting our news story tab here.
(AP) — Investigators probing the January midair collision of a passenger plane and an Army helicopter over Washington that killed 67 people found the chopper was flying higher than it should have been and its altitude readings were inaccurate.
The details came out of the first day of National Transportation Safety Board hearings in Washington, where investigators aim to uncover insights into what caused the crash between the American Airlines plane from Wichita, Kansas, and the Black Hawk helicopter over Ronald Reagan National Airport.
The board opened the three days of hearings by showing an animation and playing audio and video from the night of the collision, as well as questioning witnesses and investigators about how the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army may have contributed to nation’s deadliest plane crash since November 2001.
It’s likely too early for the board to identify what caused the crash.
The January incident was the first in a string of crashes and near misses this year that have alarmed officials and the traveling public, despite statistics that still show flying remains the safest form of transportation.
The hearing opened Wednesday with a video animation showing where the helicopter and airliner were leading up to the collision. It showed how the helicopter flew above the 200 feet (61 meters) altitude limit on the helicopter route along the Potomac River before colliding with the plane.
Investigators said Wednesday the flight data recorder showed the helicopter was actually 80 feet to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) higher than the barometric altimeter the pilots relied upon showed they were flying. So the NTSB conducted tests on three other helicopters from the same unit in a flight over the same area and found similar discrepancies in their altimeters.
Dan Cooper with Sikorsky helicopters said that when the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the crash was designed in the 1970s, it used a style of altimeter that was common at the time. Newer helicopters have air data computers that didn’t exist back then that help provide more accurate altitude readings.
Chief Warrant Officer Kylene Lewis told the board that she wouldn’t find an 80 to 100 foot discrepancy between the different altimeters on a helicopter alarming because at lower altitudes she would be relying more on the radar altimeter than the barometric altimeter. Below 500 feet (152 meters), Lewis said she would be checking both instruments and cross referencing them.
She said as long as an altimeter registers an altitude within 70 feet of the published altitude before takeoff the altimeter is considered accurate under the checklists.
Army officials said a discrepancy of 70 to 100 feet (21 to 30 meters) between the Black Hawk’s altimeters is within the acceptable range because pilots are expected to maintain their altitude plus or minus 100 feet.
The greater concern is that the FAA approved routes around Reagan airport that included such small separation distances between helicopters and planes when planes are landing.
“The fact that we have less than 500 foot separation is a concern for me,” the Army’s Scott Rosengren said.
But Rosengren said that “if he was king for a day” he would immediately retire all the older Black Hawk models like the one involved in this crash and replace them with newer versions of the helicopters.
Previously, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy highlighted that the published helicopter routes around Washington D.C. would allow planes and helicopters to routinely come within 75 feet of each other during landing.
Army officials said Wednesday that the flight manual for these older Black Hawks doesn’t highlight the discrepancies in altimeters that has been documented previously, but typical flight separations are at least 500 feet (152 meters) around airports.
During the two minutes before the crash, one air traffic controller was directing airport traffic and helicopters in the area, a task that involved speaking to or receiving communications from several different aircraft, according to the NTSB’s History of Flight Performance Study.
The air traffic controller had spoken to or received communications from the Black Hawk helicopter, an airplane that was taking off, an Air Force helicopter, an airplane on the ground, a medical helicopter and an inbound flight that was not the American Airlines plane that would crash.
“All aircraft could hear the controller, but helicopters could only hear other helicopters on their frequency and airplanes only other airplanes,” the report stated. “This resulted in a number of stepped on transmissions as helicopters and airplanes were not aware when the other was communicating.”
Stepped on transmissions are those that are unheard or blocked because of other transmissions. The NTSB report provides a list of 29 separate communications between the airport tower and other aircraft during approximately the 1 minute and 57 seconds before the collision.
Previously disclosed air traffic control audio had the helicopter pilot telling the controller twice that they saw the airplane and would avoid it.
The animation ended with surveillance video showing the helicopter colliding with the plane in a fiery crash.
Investigations have already shown the FAA failed to recognize a troubling history of 85 near misses around Reagan airport in the years before the collision, and that the Army’s helicopters routinely flew around the nation’s capitol with a key piece of locating equipment, known as ADS-B Out, turned off.
Even though the final NTSB report won’t be released until sometime next year, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz introduced legislation Tuesday to require all aircraft operators to use both forms of ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, the technology to broadcast aircraft location data to other planes and air traffic controllers. Most aircraft today are equipped with ADS-B Out equipment but the airlines would have to add the more comprehensive ADS-B In technology to their planes.
“There cannot be a double standard in aviation safety,” Cruz said. “We should not tolerate special exceptions for military training flights, operating in congested air space.”
The legislation would revoke an exemption on ADS-B transmission requests for Department of Defense aircrafts. It also would require the FAA to evaluate helicopter routes near airports and require the Army Inspector General to review the Army’s aviation safety practices.
Homendy said her agency has been recommending that move for decades after several other crashes.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that while he’d like to discuss “a few tweaks,” the legislation is “the right approach.” He also suggested that the previous administration “was asleep at the wheel” amid dozens of near-misses in the airspace around Washington’s airspace.
Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam, Ben Finley and Rio Yamat contributed to this story.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — President Trumped approved a major disaster declaration for 23 Indiana Counties for the severe storms and tornadoes that ripped across the state from late March and into early April.
The declaration allows for federal public assistance to be provided to 23 counties in Indiana, enabling them to repair and replace disaster-damaged facilities and conduct emergency work.
The FEMA Public Assistance Program will assist state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations, in the affected counties.
Eligible applicants must own the property or be legally responsible for its maintenance. Applicants are encouraged to contact their county Emergency Management Agency (EMA) for assistance.
FEMA staff, in collaboration with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) recovery teams, will begin meeting with public assistance applicants across the state starting Aug. 5.
Despite the approval for public assistance, the federal disaster declaration for individual assistance was denied on July 28. The IDHS is currently reviewing options to appeal this decision.
This story was formatted for WISHTV.com using AI-assisted tools. Our editorial team reviews and edits all content published to ensure it meets our journalistic standards for accuracy and fairness.
DOVER, Ind. (WISH) — Details shared publicly were few, but the Boone County Sheriff’s Office revealed Wednesday that a crop duster was shot Friday.
In a news release, the office said the crop duster was shot between 6-7 p.m. Friday near the intersection of state roads 32 and 75. That’s in the western Boone County unincorporated community of Dover, about a 40-minute drive northwest of downtown Indianapolis.
The pilot, who was not injured, safely landed the plane. The release did not name the pilot or the crop-dusting business.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating. They asked anyone who was in the area at the time or who may have information to call the Boone County Sheriff’s Office at 765-482-1412, option 6, and reference Case No. 25-BCSO-0365.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A day after a police shooting that wounded an officer, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released an update into the suspect’s condition and identified two teenagers who were involved in the carjacking that sparked the shooting.
The shooting happened during a carjacking just after 2 p.m. Tuesday near 16th and Harding streets, on the west side of Indianapolis.
Four male suspects were inside the vehicle when they were stopped by police. One person, who is still on the run, fled police while the officer tried to arrest the driver. Another passenger in the car got out and opened fire on the officer.
The officer was shot then returned fire. In the Wednesday update, IMPD says that the officer is currently recovering in the hospital.
Police also confirmed that the suspect who was shot is in critical condition.
IMPD identified the driver as Mahki Starks and one of the passengers as Malique Starks. Both are 19-years-old. Police did not say if the two are related.
Both have been arrested for resisting police.
“Meanwhile, IMPD is actively searching for the fourth suspect involved in yesterday’s critical incident. We urge this individual to safely turn himself in,” IMPD wrote in the press release.
Anyone with information into the police shooting or the suspect is urged to call 911or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 317-262-8477.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A police officer — called a “devil” by the man they were arresting — broke their lower leg while wrestling a suspect to the ground Tuesday night.
Tuesday night around 9:30 p.m., the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says that 52-year-old Robert Sanders Jr., “without provocation,” approached a person and yanked on their beard. “An uninvolved witness confirmed this story,” IMPD said in a press release.
Officers found Sanders “pacing back and fourth while yelling at the hotel” near Jackson Place and South Illinois Street in downtown Indianapolis. The officers told Sanders to put his hands behind his back, and with a yell he retorted by calling them “devils.”
IMPD says a fight broke out between Sanders and the officers. In the wrestle, which had IMPD backup entering into the arena, officers were able to arrest Sanders, but not without injury.
One of the officers injured their ankle. After getting it checked out in the hospital, it was confirmed to be a broken fibula, the smaller of the two bones in your lower leg.
“Yesterday, two of our officers were injured in the line of duty, one who was shot, and another while trying to take someone into custody who chose to resist arrest. These incidents are clear reminders of the risks our officers face every single day. I’m grateful both are expected to recover, and I want to thank them for their courage and commitment to protecting our city,” IMPD Chief Bailey said in a press release.
Sanders arrested under three preliminary charges, including battery against a police officer.
