The Daily Moth 3-20-2025
It is Thursday, March 20, 2025. Here are today’s top stories.
———
Landing gear collapsed on Delta plane that flipped
Canadian authorities said the Delta plane that flipped after landing in Toronto last month had its right landing gear break and collapse on impact. The investigation said there was a “high descent rate” before the landing, meaning the plane went down quicker than normal. There was an alert on the plane about the high rate of descent three seconds before the plane hit the runway. It was very windy at the time with snow blowing over the runway.
The report said the first officer, which is a co-pilot, is a woman and was in her fifth straight day of flying and had flown earlier that morning. She was at the controls of the plane as it landed. The captain of the plane was a man that had not flown for seven days. He had over 3,500 flight hours.
The first officer had 1,422 hours of flying total, which is below the FAA minimum to be a commercial pilot. She was flying on a special exemption from the FAA because she had a specific aviation degree and received a waiver.
The report said after the landing gear collapsed, there was a fracture in the right wing area that caused a cloud of jet fuel to leak and it caught fire when the plane was sliding on the runway.
The report said the cockpit door was jammed shut and the flight crew got out through an emergency hatch on the ceiling of the cockpit. After all passengers evacuated from the plane, emergency crews entered the plane and there was an explosion outside of the plane at the left wing area.
The report said it is too early to make conclusions on the causes of the accident and that there will be a full investigation report released in the future.
It is extremely fortunate that all 80 people on board survived, but about 20 were injured, some seriously.
I’ve seen some controversy on the internet about the co-pilot being a woman, with some calling it a “DEI hire.” Others shot back that there are many competent female aviators and that people shouldn’t suggest someone is a DEI hire just because they are a woman.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/main-landing-gear-collapsed-impact-fiery-toronto-plane/story
———
Plane that crashed in Alaska was 1,000 lbs over weight limit
Here is another news story about an investigative report on a plane crash, this time about the Bering Air flight that crashed in sea ice off Alaska on February 6, which tragically killed the male pilot and 9 passengers.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane was more than 1,000 pounds over the maximum takeoff gross weight for flight into known or forecast icing conditions.
The pilot had a commercial pilot certificate and was 34 years old. The passengers’ ages ranged from 30-58.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/alaska-plane-crashed-left-10-dead-more-than-1000-pounds-over-weight-limit-ntsb-finds
———
Swatting incidents targeting Trump and Musk supporters
CNN reported that at least 12 influencers on social media who are known for being supporters of President Trump and for their interactions with Elon Musk have been “swatted” in the last two weeks.
Swatting is when someone who knows one’s hometown calls a local police department and makes a false report of a serious crime in progress at one’s home, to get the police department to send in armed officers or a SWAT team into one’s home. Previous incidents of swatting has resulted in the residents dying.
One of the most recent incidents is on Sunday when Larry Taunton, who has over 300k followers on X and YouTube, had three officers show up at his home with their guns drawn after someone made a false report that there were three men in hoodies killing people in the house.
CNN said the swatting is happening as Tesla owners and dealerships are experiencing a wave of vandalism in backlash against Elon Musk, the company owner. At least three people were recently charged for setting Tesla vehicles on fire in Oregon, Colorado, and South Carolina.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security said they’re investigating this wave of swatting incidents and would look at the Tesla fires as potential terrorism.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/20/media/trump-musk-conservative-influencers-swatting/index.html
https://abcnews.go.com/US/3-charged-recent-tesla-arson-attacks-ag-bondi/story?id=119993109
———
Judge blocks Trump’s military transgender ban
On Tuesday night, a federal judge in D.C., Ana Reyes, blocked the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people from serving in the military.
The judge said the idea that all people are created equal, which is in the Declaration of Independence, says “…all means all. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less.” The judge also said the ban is a continuation of an unfortunate history of the armed services excluding marginalized people.
Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth said they would appeal the ruling and said, “we will win.” The Trump administration issued the ban partly because they felt transgender troops did not help with military readiness. They also said it is a “falsehood” if a man says he is a woman.
Two transgender troops, who are plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the ban, said they are relieved at the ruling and look forward to serve their country and do their jobs.
This is another case where a federal judge has blocked President Trump’s directives, with the other one related to the quick deportations of suspected Venezuelan gang members.
Judge Reyes was appointed as a judge by President Joe Biden in 2023 and is the first Latina and the first openly LGBT person to serve as a district court judge in D.C.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-calls-militarys-history-discrimination-blocking-trumps-transgender/story
———
Hamas fires rockets towards Israel
The New York Times reported that Hamas fired a barrage of rockets towards Tel Aviv today that were either intercepted or fell into open areas. It is Hamas’ first attack on Israel since the Israeli military started bombing Gaza over the past three days.
Israel is demanding Hamas to release hostages and has vowed to increase the fighting until they do so. Israel also wants to see Hamas out of power in Gaza, but Hamas is refusing to disarm or send its leaders away. Hamas accused Israel of violating their ceasefire agreement.
News reports said during the three-day bombardment, several top Hamas officials were killed but many more children and civilians were killed. The Gaza death toll is nearing 600 in the past three days.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/world/middleeast/hamas-attack-tel-aviv-israel-gaza.html
———
Tesla recalls Cybertrucks due to trim issue
Reuters reported that Tesla is recalling almost all Cybertrucks in the U.S. to fix an exterior panel that could detach while driving. The recall covers over 46,000 vehicles built from November 2023 through the end of February this year.
Reuters said this recall could prove to be a setback for Tesla, whose stock has lost about half its value this year as the company deals with rising competition and backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts to the federal government.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-recall-over-46000-cybertrucks-nhtsa-says-2025-03-20/
———
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.