South
Two Injured as Southwest Airlines Flight Dives to Avert ‘Midair Collision’
A Southwest Airlines flight on Friday was forced to swiftly descend over Hollywood Burbank Airport to avert a “midair collision,” according to passengers and the airline.
At least two flight attendants were injured in the maneuver on Flight 1496, which was bound for Las Vegas.
Flight passenger Steve Ulasewicz described feeling a “significant drop,” adding the pilot told the rattled flyers that the crew had to pull off the emergency move to “avoid a midair collision,” ABC News reported.
Southwest Airlines told Newsweek that the flight was forced to “climb and descend” over Burbank after receiving two “onboard traffic alerts.”
Why It Matters
The near miss is the latest in a series of global aviation incidents that have reignited debate over air traffic oversight, pilot training and reliance on automated warning systems.
On Monday, a plane landing in Mexico City almost crashed into a Delta Air Lines flight at Benito Juarez International Airport.
On January 29, a commercial jetliner and Army helicopter collided in Washington, D.C., killing 67 people. Two days later, a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia, killing all six people onboard and one person on the ground.
The deadly January crashes led President Donald Trump to announce plans to revamp the nation’s aging aviation safety infrastructure.
What To Know
Passenger and comedian Jimmy Dore said many onboard had been flung out of their seats and had “bumped their heads on the ceiling.”
After the sudden descent, the pilot informed passengers that the maneuver was ordered to avoid another aircraft, and that there had been a temporary loss of contact with air traffic control.
“Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us,” Dore added in a post on X. “Wow.”
Caitlin Burdi, a fellow passenger, described the “terrifying” moment the flight suddenly plummeted.
“It felt like the ride Tower of Terror, where we fell 20 to 30 feet,” she told Fox News Digital. “I just remember [the pilot] saying, ‘What just happened was we almost collided with another plane, and I had to make the emergency attempt to go under because we lost service with the air traffic controller.’”
Southwest Airlines told Newsweek that no injuries had been reported by customers, although the two flight attendants were being medically treated.
The flight was able to continue to its destination of Las Vegas, where it landed “uneventfully.”
“Southwest is engaged with the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] to further understand the circumstances,” an airline spokesperson said.
What People Are Saying
A Southwest Airlines spokesperson also told Newsweek: “We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.”
Burdi also told Fox News Digital: “The screaming, it was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash.”
A Hollywood Burbank Airport spokesperson told Newsweek:“There’s no evidence of any incident similar to what you’re describing happening in the immediate vicinity of our airport.”
What Happens Next
Southwest and FAA officials have launched an investigation into the cause and sequence of events that led to the emergency maneuver. They’re reviewing air traffic control communications, radar data and cockpit recordings. The ongoing probes will focus on determining whether procedural lapses or technical issues contributed to the risk of collision.
South-Carolina
Oh, Goodbye: Four-Star South Carolina RB Aiden Gibson Flips To Rutgers
Just a day after four-star PA wide receiver Khalil Taylor spurned Penn State for Nebraska, the Nittany Lions got more fantastic news as four-star South Carolina running back Aiden Gibson announced his decommitment from Penn State and flipped to Rutgers with the intention to enroll for the 2026 season.
Not really much to say here other than this sucks and there have just been too many losses for Penn State this cycle. No one is going to bat 1.000, but after a strong March and April that had the Nittany Lions positioned to sign a Top 15 class, they have managed to lose Jamir Dean to Georgia, Zach Gleason to West Virginia, DeShawn Hall to Auburn, Khalil Taylor to Nebraska, and now Aiden Gibson to Rutgers. The class is now ranked No. 22, behind the likes of Cal, Kentucky, and…Virginia Tech.
Gross. The 2028 class needs to be better.
Tennessee
A Tennessee woman was heard screaming, ‘he’s got a gun.’ Now her husband is pleading guilty to her murder.
BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. (WSMV) – A 72-year-old man in Pickett County entered a guilty plea to the second-degree murder of his wife Theresa Marie Foutch.
Johnny Ray Foutch was sentenced to 20 years in custody of the Department of Corrections at 100% day for day, said District Attorney Bryant C. Dunaway.
Theresa’s adult sons were consulted about the plea and were supportive of the sentence.
Dunaway said that the incident in question took place on July 13, 2025, at their home in Byrdstown. The Pickett County Sheriff’s Office paid a visit to their home after Johnny’s daughter requested that officers check on the married couple.
When Chief Deputy Steve Wilbur arrived at the home and approached the front of the house, he says he overheard a man and a woman arguing inside.
He said he then heard the female voice yell, “He’s got a gun.” That’s when he says he heard a gunshot.
The deputy took cover outside the home. Moments later, Johnny walked out the front door holding a Sig Sauer handgun.
Wilbur secured Johnny and went into the home, where he found Theresa lying face down in the living room. She appeared to have been shot in the back.
Officers searched the home and said they found a shell casing on the floor of the dining room, just 10 to 15 feet away from Theresa’s body.
Dunaway said that a forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy determined that Theresa’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to her back. The manner of her death, the pathologist said, was homicide.
Copyright 2026 WSMV. All rights reserved.
Texas
US immigration officer shoots and kills man in Texas
Man, identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, is latest to be killed by ICE officers since President Trump took power.
Published On 8 Jul 2026
A United States immigration agent fatally shot a man in Houston, Texas, while officers were attempting to stop his vehicle, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
The man killed on Tuesday was identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, described by ICE as a Mexican national and “illegal alien” who attempted to evade arrest during a “targeted enforcement operation” by federal immigration officers.
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Ronaldo Salgado, who identified himself as Salgado Araujo’s son, told the Spanish-language television station Telemundo Houston that his father was shot while he was looking for workers to hire in the area.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said Salgado Araujo ignored commands to stop his vehicle, saying he “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer”.
In past shooting incidents, including the January killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, immigration officials had said that their officers were being attacked when the two were shot, claims vigorously disputed in both incidents.
Video footage captured on Tuesday by a surveillance camera from a nearby business and reviewed by the Reuters news agency showed a person lying on the ground beside a white van and surrounded by officers, in what appeared to be the aftermath of the shooting.
Salgado Araujo was targeted in an operation because he was living in the country without legal permission, according to DHS.
Democratic US Representative Sylvia Garcia called for an independent and thorough investigation of ICE’s claims about the fatal shooting.
“All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation,” Garcia posted on social media.
Juan Proano, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, echoed Garcia’s calls for a transparent investigation into ICE’s actions.
“We don’t take DHS at their word at all,” Proano told The Associated Press news agency. “There should be an independent investigation, and they should release all the videos.”
There have been at least six fatal shootings by federal immigration officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement crackdown.
Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, was shot in the head by a federal immigration agent during a crackdown in Minneapolis. DHS also said Good was trying to hit the agent with her vehicle, which local officials and witnesses disputed, saying she was only trying to drive away.
The backlash from Good’s killing and other similar incidents led ICE to step back from some of its more controversial operations.
However, Tuesday’s deadly confrontation in Houston came amid a recent increase in the number of ICE arrests nationwide, with immigration officers picking up about 2,000 migrants a day last week, Reuters reported.
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