Vibrations preceded crash, Navy says
SAN DIEGO -- A U.S. Navy report on a fatal helicopter crash off Southern California said the aircraft experienced "side-to-side" vibrations that caused the main rotor to hit the deck of an aircraft carrier while landing, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The MH-60S Seahawk fell off the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on Aug. 31. One crew member was rescued, and five were declared dead after a search. Five sailors on the carrier deck were injured.
The crash summary in a Naval Safety Center document, first reported by the Navy Times, did not include any information on what might have caused the vibrations.
Michael Canders, a retired military helicopter pilot who is the director of the Aviation Center at Farmingdale State College in New York, told the Navy Times that side-to-side vibrations can occur if rotor blades are out of balance.
"All of that has to be carefully balanced to make sure you don't have these sorts of excessive vibrations," he said.
The Navy announced Saturday that the missing crew members had been declared dead and that the search efforts were shifting to recovery operations. The helicopter sank about 70 miles off San Diego.
The aircraft belonged to the Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 8.
Ex-prosecutor charged in shooting case
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The former prosecutor charged with misconduct over her handling of the Ahmaud Arbery case was booked at a Georgia jail Wednesday and released.
Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson surrendered at the Glynn County jail, county Undersheriff Ron Corbett said. Jail records show that she was released on her own recognizance, meaning she did not have to pay a cash bond.
A grand jury indicted Johnson, 49, last week on a felony charge of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor count of obstructing police. Johnson was the area's top prosecutor when three white men chased and fatally shot Arbery last year. The indictment alleges that she used her position to discourage police from making arrests in the 25-year-old Black man's killing.
Greg McMichael and his adult son, Travis, and William "Roddie" Bryan weren't charged in the killing until after a video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range with a shotgun was leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case. Now all three men face murder charges.
Greg McMichael told police that they suspected Arbery was a burglar and Travis McMichael shot him in self-defense.
Prosecutors have said Arbery was unarmed and was carrying no stolen items when he was slain.
Sentence 42 months for ex-NXIVM exec
NEW YORK -- A former nurse who co-founded and once ran the cultlike NXIVM group, where prosecutors said some women were brainwashed, branded like animals and coerced into sex, was sentenced Wednesday to 42 months in prison but won't be locked up until January.
Nancy Salzman, the former president and co-founder of NXIVM, must also pay a $150,000 fine, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis said. She has agreed to forfeit more than $500,000 in cash, several properties and a Steinway grand piano.
Salzman must report to prison by Jan. 19, Garaufis said. Her lawyers said she has been caring for her ailing mother.
Speaking in Brooklyn federal court, Salzman, 67, said she fell under NXIVM leader Keith Raniere's spell when they started working together 20 years ago and that she started rationalizing and overlooking the wrongdoing she saw around her.
Salzman, known within the Albany-based group as "Prefect," pleaded guilty in March 2019 to charges of racketeering conspiracy that involved conspiracy to commit identity theft and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Raniere was sentenced in October to 120 years in prison for turning some women into sex slaves branded with his initials and sexually abusing a 15-year-old.
Trio charged in condo-collapse ID thefts
MIAMI -- Three people have been arrested in the thefts of the identities of several victims in June's deadly south Florida condominium building collapse, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Betsy Alexandra Cacho Medina, 30, Rodney Choute, 38, and Kimberly Michelle Johnson, 34, were arrested Wednesday on multiple charges related to fraud and counterfeiting, the Miami-Dade state attorney's office announced during a news conference.
Officials have identified at least five dead and two living victims from the building, but the investigation continues, and additional victims could be found, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.
The oceanfront Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside collapsed in the early hours of June 24, killing 98 people.
Authorities were first notified of possible fraudulent activity on July 9, when the sister of one of the dead victims contacted Surfside police, officials said. The sister had noticed password changes to the victim's bank accounts and credit cards, as well as new addresses and contact information.