ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A medical plane crashed overnight, killing all five on board, including a young girl en route to a hospital, authorities said. A search helicopter found the wreckage early Monday. Tracy Smith and her daughter, 15-month-old Lily Smith, were among those killed, said Peter Olson, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. Lily was the patient.
Police have not released the identities of the 56-year-old pilot, a 44-year-old male nurse and a 40-year-old female paramedic, pending notification of next of kin, Olson said.
Smith, a single mother, worked two jobs – at a golf course in the summer and as a ski instructor for the disabled in the winter, said William Riggles, who worked with her at Ski Apache. Everyone admired her commitment to her daughter, he said. “She worked her tail off to make a life for that girl. She loved being a mom – that was her world,” said Riggles, also a ski instructor.
S. Carolina: FBI investigates pair
Two Middle Eastern men arrested near a Navy base after police found a suspicious item in their car were charged Monday with possession of an incendiary device, authorities said. A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see if there was any terrorism connection but no link had been found, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste. Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were being held Monday pending a bail hearing,
Calif: Navy’s sonar use banned
A federal judge in Los Angeles banned the U.S. Navy from using high-powered sonar in nearly a dozen upcoming training exercises off Southern California, ruling Monday that its use could “cause irreparable harm to the environment.” The lawsuit, along with a similar one filed by the California Coastal Commission, argues for broader safeguards to protect marine mammals from powerful blasts of mid-frequency sonar that have been linked elsewhere to mass die-offs of whales and panicked behavior by the animals. The Navy said even a temporary ban would disrupt training of sailors before they are sent overseas.
Kentucky: Attendant arrested
A flight attendant appeared in court Monday to answer charges she was drinking alcohol on the job and told a captain “You’re dead” as she was removed from the plane. Public safety officers at Blue Grass Airport reported Sarah Mills, 26, threatened the Delta captain Sunday afternoon. She was being held Monday at Fayette County Detention Center on a $350 bond following her arraignment on terroristic threatening and public alcohol intoxication. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Florida: Shuttle ready for launch
A computer sabotaged by a disgruntled worker for a NASA supplier has been repaired and loaded aboard the space shuttle Endeavour for a Wednesday liftoff. A top NASA manager said Monday it was apparently an isolated event and that there was no reason to believe anyone had tampered with anything else on the spacecraft.
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