Nebraska
Three killed after small plane crashes into Nebraska river leaving no survivors
Three people have been killed after a small plane plunged into a Nebraska river, leaving no survivors.
U.S. aviation officials have taken over an investigation into the tragedy after the small craft crash landed in the Platte River, south of Fremont, on Friday night.
The plane was traveling along the river when it crashed into the water at 8.15pm local time. Rescue teams, using airboats, drones and a police helicopter, have been scouring the wreckage located about 37 miles (59.5 kilometers) west of Omaha, but all three passengers on board were killed in the incident.
The authorities are contacting the victim’s next of kin and investigations into the cause of the deadly crash are ongoing.
In a statement, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office said: “A small plane was traveling along the Platte River south of Fremont when it crashed into the river.
“The three occupants of the plane have been recovered and are confirmed deceased. Those identities will not be released at this time pending next of kin notification.
“The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will take over the investigation at this point.”
Locals have been asked to avoid the area while emergency crews work at the scene.
The crash comes after a family of five and pilot were killed when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into New York’s Hudson River earlier this month.
Divers were last week still salvaging key pieces of wreckage from the Bell 206 LongRanger, which crumbled midair and plunged upside-down into the water on 10 April.
Agustin Escobar, 49, CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, global commercialization manager at Siemens Energy, and their children Agustín, 10, Mercè, 8 and Víctor, 4, all perished in the accident. The helicopter pilot was named on Friday as Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran.
Separately, a family of six was killed last weekend when their plane crashed near Copake, New York, while traveling to the Catskills for a birthday and Passover celebration.
The twin-engine plane they were traveling in crashed into a muddy field just ten miles from their destination, killing two young couples and their parents, Dr. Michael Groff and Dr. Joy Saini — each celebrated surgeons.
Associated Press contributed to this report
The future of data centers in Nebraska took center stage at a North Omaha town hall Thursday evening.
The event was hosted by State Sens. Terrell McKinney and Ashlei Spivey, who alongside Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh sponsored a bill in the Nebraska Legislature that looked to help regulate data centers.
Parts of their bill were adopted and passed in LB1010, which requires reports on annual power usage, water usage and ownership.
“Having this passed in a package showed a lot of bipartisan work,” Spivey told a crowd of attendees at Nelson Mandela Elementary School.
The proposed regulations were shaped in part by Bold Nebraska, an advocacy group focused on eminent domain and clean energy. Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and founder of Bold Nebraska, said before the bill passed there were “zero laws on the books” to address a boom in data centers.
“If one is coming into the community, we wanted to make sure that there were some basic transparency things in place,” Kleeb said.
Political discussions around data centers heated up in recent months following reporting by the Flatwater Free Press that showed Google is considering a data center in Nebraska that could require more than three times the amount of power the entire city of Lincoln uses at peak demand in the summer.
The Nebraska Legislature recently passed another bill, LB1261, that allows private developers to build and own power plants to serve a large industrial customer, including data centers. That bill was proposed by the governor’s office and celebrated by Gov. Jim Pillen.
“Our state is once again taking a bold and strategic step – one that will create an environment that attracts business and multibillion dollar investment, while legally preserving Nebraska’s unique and consumer-friendly public power model,” Pillen said at the time.
At Thursday’s town hall, McKinney called LB1261 “the bogeyman bill.”
“It’s a bill that the governor pushed through the legislature to allow for data centers to create their own power,” McKinney said. “It’s a bill that I stood on the floor and said this is going to harm our communities.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Hundreds of people are without power in southeast Nebraska after a severe storm passed through Thursday morning.
The Lincoln Electric System outage map showed 115 customers without power across the city at 11:36 a.m.
Norris Public Power District’s outage map also shows 45 customers affected by the storm. As of 11:36 a.m., there were nine active outages.
According to the Nebraska Public Power District outage map, 657 customers were affected by the storm. Most of the affected customers were near Plattsmouth in southeast Nebraska. As of 11:37 a.m., 27 customers remain without power.
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Mandatory evacuations have been ordered near Crawford, including Fort Robinson State Park, as the South Fork Fire continues to spread in western Nebraska.
According to the City of Crawford, evacuations are currently underway for an area north of Crawford that includes the area south of Dodd Road, west of Dodd Road, and FF Street.
Fort Robinson has also been evacuated.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission said Fort Robinson State Park and Peterson Wildlife Management Area have been temporarily closed due to the fire.
The fire has burned approximately 9,000 acres and is currently 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Nebraska Game and Parks said the park and the WMA will remain closed until further notice to support firefighting operations and protect public safety.
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