Drummer Daniel Williams was once a part of the band, The Devil Wears Prada
All passengers of the San Diego plane crash have been confirmed after investigators explained the harrowing scene they arrived to.
When the news broke that drummer Daniel Williams, a former member of the Ohio-based metal band The Devil Wears Prada, was a victim of a plane crash on Thursday morning (May 22), it sent shockwaves throughout the music community.
Williams boarded the privately owned jet on Wednesday with David Shapiro, a music agent who has represented acts including Sum 41 and Vanessa Carlton.
It was later revealed that Shapiro was listed as the owner of the plane, and had a pilot’s license.
The plane, which is said to have had six people on board, crashed into the Murphy Canyon neighborhood just hours later, causing evacuations along several streets.
Man’s remains identified on ‘serial killer’s property’
The small private jet crashed in the Murphy Canyon neighborhood on Thursday morning, resulting in the deaths of all six people onboard (SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
“We have jet fuel all over the place,” assistant Fire Department chief Dan Eddy said during a news conference. “Our main goal is to search all these homes and get everybody out right now.”
At first, it was unknown exactly just how many people were on the plane at the time, but when Shapiro’s talent agent company, Sound Talent Group, released its heartfelt message of condolences, the public began to find out that there were more than two casualties.
A spokesman for Sound Talent Group told the BBC: “We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today’s tragedy. Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time.”
Revealing that three colleagues had been on board, including Shapiro, it went on to confirm those who had died that morning.
Sound Talent Group confirmed that booking assistants Kendall Fortner and Emma Huke were onboard the plane, and it was later confirmed that Shapiro’s friend Dominic Damian and photographer Celina Kenyon were also among the dead.
Investigators also shared the conditions in which might have contributed to the crash, such as foggy weather conditions.
Dan Baker, of the National Transportation Safety Board, shared that the runway lights were not on when the incident occurred, and also, a weather alert system wasn’t working when the pilot attempted to land.
Because of these issues, the plane came up short during its landing attempt and crashed into the neighborhood.
After his death, Williams’ former The Devil Wears Prada bandmates paid tribute to him and Shapiro, writing online: “No words. We owe you everything. Love you forever.”
Dave Shapiro is among the victims (Instagram/@davevelocity)
Before the crash, Williams shared a couple of Instagram Stories from inside the cockpit and outside of the private jet.
“Hey. Hey … you … look at me … I’m the (co)pilot now,” Williams said in one post.
Assistant San Diego Fire Department chief Dan Eddy said the fog was so thick ‘you could barely see in front of you’.
The crash damaged homes, vehicles and also clipped power lines on its way down.
As of right now, it has been confirmed that eight people were treated for minor injuries and dogs are being decontaminated by volunteers after being exposed to jet fuel.Featured Image Credit: Ariana Drehsler/Getty Images/Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images
Published 14:05 27 May 2024 GMT+1
Footage shows final minutes of passengers before plane crashed into volcano killing 257 people
Flight 901 took off from Auckland International Airport in 1979, but it never made it back
A chilling video is thought to have captured travellers preparing to embark on a sightseeing trip they’d never return from.
On November 28, 1979, globetrotters boarded Air New Zealand Flight 901 at Auckland International Airport – ready to view the Antarctic from its cabin windows.
Alongside the 237 passengers was a guide, employed to point out important landmarks and provide interesting tidbits on the ice-covered land.
Air New Zealand Flight 901 never made it back from its journey. (Reddit)
The exciting trip, piloted by experienced aviators Captain Thomas James ‘Jim’ Collins and First Officer Gregory Mark ‘Greg’ Cassin, set off at 8am local time.
The flight was due to head around Antarctica, touch down in Christchurch for a refuel and then head back to Auckland to finish the extraordinary round trip.
However, Flight 901 unfortunately never made it to its destination due to the plane crashing into a volcano.
It’s said that during the flight, the pilots lowered the plane below a safe altitude so that passengers and staff could get a good look at the landscape.
However, layers of clouds and snow blinded the aircrew, meaning they couldn’t recognise that they were flying the DC-10 into a disaster zone.
The suspected last moments of Flight 901 passengers was caught on film. (RNZ)
As guests feasted their eyes on the barren ground below, Captain Collins and Cassin switched to autopilot.
It’s thought that just moments before Flight 901 crashed into Antarctica’s second tallest active volcano, Mount Erebus, footage was captured on board.
In the clip, shared via New Zealand’s public broadcaster RNZ, guests on board could be seen walking up aisles and sipping on drinks.
The chilling video also captured guests taking photographs out of the window as they seemingly thought they were flying along McMurdo Sound.
Instead, the pilots had taken them over Lewis Bay and were on course to crash into Mount Erebus.
There were no survivors of the plane crash. (RNZ)
Just seconds before impact, Flight 901’s warning system signalled.
With no time to react, the aircrew was unable to change course and the sightseeing plane crashed into the side of the volcano and exploded.
Of the 237 passengers and 20 crew members, an inquest confirmed that there were no survivors of the accident.
Following the 1979 disaster, canisters of film were recovered from the scene.
One image, thought to have been captured at the moment of the plane’s impact, featured fluid on the window, speculated to have been fuel.Play
An investigation into the crash found that Collins, Cassin and Flight Engineer Gordon Barrett Brooks had been briefed before the tour.
However, they had expected to complete a different flight plan to the one featured on the plane’s computer.
Therefore, it was conducted that the team expected to fly past Mount Erebus rather than straight towards it.Featured Image Credit: YouTube/RNZ
Topics: New Zealand, World News, Antarctica
Harrowing recording captures final moments before plane crashed during takeoff killing 265 people
An audio recording from the cockpit of American Airlines flight 587 has revealed the plane’s ‘chilling’ last moments
Warning: This article contains graphic images and video recording which some readers may find distressing.
The ‘chilling’ audio recording from the cockpit of American Airlines Flight 587 reveals the last moments before the crash.
On 12 November, 2001, passenger American Airlines Flight 587 took off from John F. Kennedy airport, New York, set to travel to Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, but shortly after takeoff, disaster struck.
Audio recording from cockpit of American Airlines flight 587
Credit: National Geographic
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The flight went down not long after taking to the air, killing all 251 passengers, seven flight attendants and two flight crew members on board. Five people on the ground were killed too – a total of 265 lives.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the ‘probable cause’ of the accident ‘was the in-flight separation of the vertical stabilizer as a result of the loads beyond ultimate design that were created by the first officer’s unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs’.
A release on its website continues: “Contributing to these rudder pedal inputs were characteristics of the Airbus A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program.”
“Flight 587 was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident,” it adds.
And an audio recording from the cockpit during the plane’s final moments has shed light on the heartbreaking incident.
The plane was an American Airlines flight (MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A video by National Geographic and shared to X shows a visual recreation of what it would’ve looked like when the plane began to experience issues.
The audio recording from the cockpit can be heard playing over the top of the imagery, with the captain of the flight saying: “Full power.”
The first officer – a.k.a. co-pilot – can be heard questioning the captain as to whether they’re ‘alright’. The captain responds: “Yeah, I’m fine.”
The first officer continues his support, urging: “Hang on to it, hang on to it.”
But then the vertical stabilizer breaks. The captain can be heard shouting: “What the hell were you do- […] I’m stuck in it.”
Despite the first officer shouting to ‘Get out of it’, the plane rapidly descends, alarms sounding in the cockpit, before it crashes and there’s silence, an X user calling the recording ‘chilling’.
The crash killed a total of 265 people (NYPD/Getty Images)
The plane’s wreckage was discovered in Belle Harbour on the Rockaway Peninsula, Queens.
The National Transportation Safety Board adds: “The airplane’s vertical stabilizer and rudder separated in flight and were found in Jamaica Bay, about one mile north of the main wreckage site.
“The airplane’s engines subsequently separated in flight and were found several blocks north and east of the main wreckage site.”
UNILAD has contacted American Airlines for comment.Featured Image Credit: National Geographic / NYPD/Getty Images
Topics: American Airlines, Travel, World News, US News
Updated 14:33 24 Feb 2025 GMTPublished 13:53 24 Feb 2025 GMT
Diddy’s legal team make surprise move challenging search warrants that led to evidence of alleged ‘freak-off’ parties
Lawyers for Sean Combs filed their motion after the rapper pleaded not guilty to the charges against him
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
The legal team representing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has challenged the search warrants used to investigate two of the rapper’s properties and called for the evidence obtained there to be suppressed.
Combs’ defense attorneys made their claims in a new court filing on Sunday (February 23), as Combs faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution following allegations made by at least three different women.
As part of the investigation into Combs, authorities searched two of the rapper’s properties in Los Angeles and Miami.
Combs has denied the allegations against him (Bryan Bedder/CP/Getty Images for CP)
An indictment later alleged that during these searches, investigators uncovered items which appeared to relate to allegations of ‘Freak Off’ events which involved sex-trafficking victims taking part in group sex acts.
The items are said to have included lubricant, more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil, drugs and three AR-15 rifles.
However, Combs’ attorneys have now argued that the evidence federal prosecutors obtained by searching his homes, as well as his iCloud accounts, phones and a hotel room, must be suppressed because the search warrants they were acting on were ‘unconstitutional’.
According to ABC News, the defense has claimed that the applications for the search warrants left out facts that could have otherwise worked in Combs’ favor, in turn presenting what the defense described as a ‘grossly distorted picture of reality’.
The defense argued that the judge who approved the warrants should have had access this additional context, with lawyers calling attention to details featured in the applications that came from an unnamed person identified as ‘Producer-1’.
Investigators searched Combs’ homes in Miami and LA (GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
The accusations regarding Producer-1’s time working for Combs were ‘never credible’, the lawyers claimed, while also noting that prosecutors did not plan to call Producer-1 to testify.
The motion, which has been heavily redacted, does not publicly state what facts were allegedly left out by the prosecutors when making their applications.
The defense wrote: “It worked — the government got its warrants, leaked damaging information, and then executed its military-style raids at Combs’s residences. Here, rather than giving the reviewing magistrate a fair summary, the government hid exculpatory evidence to bolster its case.”
In filing the motion, the defense attorneys aim to either suppress all evidence obtained through the searches, or grant a hearing to examine the government’s conduct in obtaining the warrants.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, with attorneys previously claiming that the ‘truth will prevail’ when his case goes to court.
UNILAD has attempted to reach out to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.orgFeatured Image Credit: Getty Images/Mark Mainz
Topics: Celebrity, Los Angeles, Music, US News, Diddy
Published 13:42 1 Mar 2023 GMT
Chilling audio captures flight instructor’s last moments before student crashed plane
Released audio has captured a flight instructor’s last moments before her student crashed the plane they were in.
Warning: Distressing content
Chilling audio has captured a flight instructor’s last moments before her student crashed the plane they were in.
A recording via air traffic control caught the exact moment that the young teacher, Viktoria Theresie Izabelle Ljungman, sadly died in the flight accident in Virginia.
Listen to the awful moment here:
Chilling audio captures flight instructor’s last moments before student crashed plane
Warning: distressing content. Credit: NEWSANDNEWS1/YouTube
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Ljungman, 22, was overseeing the single-engine plane in which trainee pilots Oluwagbohunmi Ayomide Oyebode and another unidentified 18-year-old were flying when it came down from around 100 feet (30 metres) at 3pm on Thursday, 6 October 2022 at Williamsburg International Airport in Newport News, VA.
As per the New York Post, Oyebode pulled the vehicle up at too steep of an angle during takeoff which caused the plane to stall.
Ljungman sadly died as a result of the crash, which involved a Cessna 172 plane, while her two students from Hampton University were transferred to Riverside Regional Medical Center in a serious condition.
Oyebode, was later taken to VCU Medical Center in Richmond to continue medical care.
@viktoriathepilot / Instagram
In the air traffic control recording, the pilot can be heard responding to control staff regarding clearance to begin their journey.
The pilot says: “Cleared for takeoff, 97883. Caution wake turbulence,” signalling a standard warning given about taking off behind a larger aircraft, according to audio available from LiveATC.net.
Shortly after this, someone utters: “We got a crash!”
“883, are you OK?”, the controller asks, in reference to the plane’s identifiable tail number, N97883.
Robert Büchel / Alamy Stock Photo
They then ask again: “Are you on this frequency?”, sadly to no avail, by which time air traffic control dispatched emergency services to the scene.
In the audio, it’s not clear who exactly is communicating with air traffic control, as any of the three pilots would have been able to speak with staff on the ground prior to the crash.
UNILAD has contacted a representative of Williamsburg International Airport for further comment.
@viktoriathepilot / Instagram
The teacher’s family have said in a statement how ‘devastated’ they are by ‘this enormous loss’ following the influx of support for Ljungman’s loved ones.
They told WTKR: “She was not even 22 and a half years old, and we are devastated by this enormous loss.
“To know Viktoria was to love her, and not just for her family. Everyone who interacted with Viktoria admired her kindness and intelligence, and respected her tremendous dedication and work ethic.”
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677Featured Image Credit: Instagram / @viktoriathepilot / Virginia State Police
Topics: Education, Social Media, Travel, US News
