SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — ABC 10News continues to bring you updates, both from a local and national perspective, on the tragic crash between aircraft at Reagan National Airport. Additionally, we follow through with YMCA Camp Surf in Imperial Beach about the response to the Tijuana River sewage crisis.
As far as our microclimate forecasts go, meteorologist Vanessa Paz is projecting a warmer weekend.
Here's what you need to know in the Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, edition of the 10News Wake Up Call newsletter:
TODAY'S TOP STORY:
The National Transportation Safety Board plans to have a preliminary report on the mid-air collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter within 30 days.
Officials stressed that it would take time to gather accurate information about the deadly incident.
"We need to verify information. We need to take our time to make sure it is accurate," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters.
The helicopter involved was a Black Hawk, and ABC 10News investigator Austin Grabish spoke with an aviation attorney, who's also a pilot, about the aircraft. Locally, San Diego Gas & Electric and U.S. Customs and Border Protection both use this type of helicopter.
Watch Austin's interview below:
Numerous members of the figure skating community were on board Flight 5342. The Skating Club of Boston confirmed that six of its members, including two former Olympians, were on board the flight.
“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.
Wichita just hosted the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championship. The event served as the final qualifier for the U.S. World and World Junior Championship teams.
San Diego's figure skating community is also in mourning; ABC 10News reporter Michael Chen spoke to Dominick Cavaliere, a 14-year-old competitive skater, about the devastating news.
“Even though we compete against each other, we’re like a team. We skate at the same rinks. We do practice ice on the same ice. We’re family. We’re friends,” Cavaliere said.
He conveyed a sense of solidarity among skaters during this tragic moment and shared that he had competed against one of the young skaters on the flight who had died.
Watch Michael's report below:
MICROCLIMATE FORECASTS:
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Deserts
BREAKING UPDATE
The National Transportation Safety Board has retrieved the flight data and voice recorders from American Airlines Flight 5342, which crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday, with hopes of producing a preliminary report within 30 days.
The crash was caused by a jet attempting a land at Reagan National Airport colliding with a Black Hawk helicopter, causing both the plane and helicopter to plunge into the river.
The NTSB's analysis of the flight data and voice recorders, known as black boxes, will be crucial in determining the cause of the crash, as the investigation continues.
It was not clear if data recorders from the helicopter had been recovered.
The response to this crash included the dispatching of multiple dive teams into the Potomac River for the recovery effort. ABC 10News spoke to the Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department about how its dive team trains for scenarios like this.
"This whole region works together well. We train regularly,” Lt. Victor Banuelos of the Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department said. "Every March, April, we have a mass rescue operation that we all participate in and we test our skills."
Banuelos explained how a recovery effort could possibly look like in the San Diego Bay.
"If you're lucky, you might have visibility. If you have a crash or anything like that, disrupts the bottom, San Diego Bay is compromised of silt at the bottom. And it stirs up like a cloud, you'd be lucky to see your hand in front of you,” Banuelos said.
Watch Ryan Hill's full report below:
CONSUMER:
President Donald Trump said his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming on Saturday, but he’s still considering whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes.
“We may or may not,” Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office about tariffing oil from Canada and Mexico. “We’re going to make that determination probably tonight.”
Trump said his decision will be based on whether the price of oil charged by the two trading partners is fair, although the basis of his threatened tariffs pertains to stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl.
The risk of tariffs on Canadian and Mexican oil could undermine Trump's repeated pledge to lower overall inflation by reducing energy costs. Costs associated with tariffs could be passed along to consumers in the form of higher gasoline prices — an issue that Trump placed at the center of his Republican presidential campaign as he vowed to halve energy costs within one year.
Read the full story from the AP here.
WE FOLLOW THROUGH:
ABC 10News first spoke to YMCA Camp Surf in Imperial Beach back in July 2024, as they were struggling to keep up enrollment because of the binational sewage crisis. The beach that's just steps away from the campsite was closed constantly as a result, so staff ended up driving campers up to Mission Beach to catch waves.
Six months later, kids were finally allowed to swim in those waters again. Despite the improvement, uncertainty still lingers among the staff.
"The uncertainty is one of the hardest things... Like — we will look at these test results in the evening and not know what we're gonna do the next day," says Brett Tillman, the associate executive director for Camp Surf.
ABC 10News reporter Tali Letoi follows through on this story, both with the surf camp and local politicians bringing the sewage issue to light on a bigger stage.
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