Category: Security

Attorney General Pam Bondi on her first day in charge put a freeze on Department of Justice funding to sanctuary cities, as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu got a date to testify before a Congressional oversight committee investigating sanctuary city policies.

Bondi, who was approved as AG on Tuesday evening, issued a day-one memo about sanctuary jurisdictions, as President Trump ramps up his illegal immigration crackdown.

“ … The Department of Justice will ensure that, consistent with law, ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ do not receive access to Federal funds from the Department,” reads Bondi’s memo.

“Sanctuary jurisdictions should not receive access to federal grants administered by the Department of Justice,” the memo later states.

Boston is a sanctuary city under the Trust Act, a 2014 local law that prohibits city police and other departments from cooperating with ICE and federal agencies on civil immigration detainers.

The DOJ plans to “pursue enforcement actions” against cities that get in the way of federal immigration crackdown efforts, according to the memo.

“Actions that impede federal efforts to enforce immigration law threaten public safety and national security,” Bondi’s memo states. “State and local jurisdictions must comply with applicable immigration-related federal laws.”

The DOJ will stop the distribution of funds until the agency has completed a review, according to Bondi’s memo.

The feds will also “terminate any agreements that are in violation of law or are the source of waste, fraud, or abuse,” the memo reads.

Meanwhile, the head of the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced when Wu and other sanctuary cities’ leaders will be getting grilled by Congressmembers.

Wu and the mayors of Chicago, Denver, and New York City have confirmed that they will testify at a committee hearing on March 5, Congressman James Comer posted.

“Sanctuary mayors have prioritized criminal illegal aliens over the American people,” Comer added. “They owe Americans an explanation for their policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law by releasing dangerous criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets. These reckless policies in Democrat-run cities and states across our nation have led to too many preventable tragedies.

“They also endanger ICE agents who are forced to take more difficult enforcement actions in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities,” the congressman posted. “We will press these mayors for answers and examine measures to enforce compliance with federal immigration law.”

Wu earlier this week said she had accepted the committee’s offer to testify in D.C.

“I have accepted the Committee’s invitation to share our work to make Boston the safest major city in America,” Wu said in a statement Wednesday evening. “The Boston Police Department partners every day with community groups and all levels of law enforcement to protect our city and our residents, and I look forward to highlighting their hard work and successes.

“I thank Congresswoman Pressley and Congressman Lynch, who serve on the committee, and the entire Massachusetts federal delegation, for their partnership in fighting for families in Boston and across the Commonwealth,” the mayor added.

The committee was initially calling for a Feb. 11 hearing date, but Wu asked for more time as she recovers from giving birth to her third child on Jan. 13.

___

© 2025 MediaNews Group, Inc

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday banning biological males from competing in women’s sports.

The “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order states, “It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.”

The executive order also explains that U.S. policy will “oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports” due to “safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”

According to The Post Millennial, Trump, who signed the executive order while surrounded by both women and girl athletes in the White House on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, described the order as “common sense” and pledged that “women’s sports will be only for women” under his administration.

“With my action this afternoon, we’re putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice that if you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” Trump said. “There will be no federal funding.”

Trump: “With my action this afternoon we are putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice that if you let men take over women’s sports teams, or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding.” pic.twitter.com/2X9iUt2ZhE

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 5, 2025

“In recent years, the radical left has waged an all-out campaign to erase the very concept of biological sex and replace it with a militant transgender ideology,” Trump continued. He added, “Female athletes have been forced onto the front lines, and men claiming to be girls have stolen more than 3,500 victories, that’s a lot, and invaded more than 11,000 competitions designed for women.”

READ MORE: Transgender athletes banned from women’s golf competitions

In his remarks from the White House, Trump shared examples of how left-wing activists have attempted to push transgender males into women’s sports across the United States, leading to biological males winning numerous competitions against female athletes.

“All of that ends today, because with this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said.

Prior to Trump signing the executive order at the White House, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the executive order “upholds the promise of Title IX.”

The White House press secretary described the executive order as a “common-sense action” that “ends the disgusting betrayal of women and girls by the previous administration, who for years catered to radical activists who wanted biological males to be treated as women in workplaces, showers, competitive sports, prisons and even rape shelters.” Leavitt added, “Gender ideology insanity is over.”

A new report claims that roughly 300 U.S. military troops have been deployed to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba following President Donald Trump’s executive order for the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to expand the Migrant Operations Center to “full capacity.”

According to The New York Times, the additional U.S. military troops deployed to Guantanamo Bay, also known as Gitmo, are expected to help construct makeshift shelters to house at least 30,000 illegal immigrants deported from the United States. The outlet noted that the U.S. troops sent to Guantanamo Bay will also provide increased security amid the influx of illegal immigrants sent to the Migrant Operations Center.

A video shared on X, formerly Twitter, appears to show recent changes to the Migrant Operations Center following Trump’s executive order last week.

“Satellite imagery shows recent changes around Guantanamo Bay’s Migrant Operations Center consistent with a large scale constructions of tents,” social media user Jack Sapoch tweeted. “This is likely to house incoming troops, but potentially as well new migrants being flown to the island by the Trump administration.”

NEW: Satellite imagery shows recent changes around Guantanamo Bay’s Migrant Operations Center consistent with a large scale constructions of tents

This is likely to house incoming troops, but potentially as well new migrants being flown to the island by the Trump administration pic.twitter.com/bFpp03L5jK

— Jack Sapoch (@JackSapoch) February 4, 2025

According to The Post Millennial, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has indicated that the illegal immigrants sent to Guantanamo Bay will be held in separate facilities from the military prisoners currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. The outlet noted that Hegseth also noted that an additional 6,000 illegal immigrants could potentially be held at a golf course located on the island.

In a Tuesday press release, U.S. Southern Command announced that the crew of the USS St. Louis was “supporting the expansion of the base’s Migrant Operations Center as part of Operation Southern Guard.”

READ MORE: Videos: Illegal immigrants being flown to Guantanamo Bay

“At the direction of the President of the United States to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. military service members are supporting removal operations led by DHS at NGSB,” the press release stated. “U.S. Southern Command has set up a Joint Task Force Migrant Operations (JTF-MIGOPS) at the Naval Station to execute the directive.”

A spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command told Task and Purpose that there are currently 310 U.S. service members working in support of migrant “holding operations.” The spokesperson noted that the service members are from the U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Army South, and U.S. Marines. According to Task and Purpose, the spokesperson confirmed that 170 Marines were deployed last weekend to the military base in Cuba.

The reports of additional U.S. troops arriving in Guantanamo Bay come after Trump announced last week that Gitmo would be used to “detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

American and Philippine warplanes flew together in a coordinated patrol and drill above the South China Sea, in the allies’ first joint maneuvers over contested waters since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office, Filipino officials said.

The exercise, where Philippine FA-50 fighter jets flew alongside U.S. B-1 bombers in skies above the waterway, including the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal, drew a rebuke from China. Beijing said it threatened regional peace and stability.

It was the first time B-1 bombers were used for joint maneuvers in the South China Sea, the Philippine military said. The one-day exercise, staged on Tuesday, reflected the strong relations between the two longtime treaty allies, officials said.

Some security experts had said earlier that President Trump might pay less attention to Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, which has been working to shore up international support against China in the South China Sea.

“It’s the first exercise under the current administration of the U.S. government,” Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, told a press briefing Tuesday.

The exercise involved two B-1 bombers attached to the U.S. Pacific Air Forces and three FA-50s from the Philippine Air Force, Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo, the PAF spokeswoman, told the same press briefing.

The B-1 is a more advanced version of the B-52 bomber, which the U.S. Air Force had deployed in previous training missions over the South China Sea, military officials said.

“This exercise is a crucial step in enhancing our interoperability, improving air domain awareness and agile combat employment and supporting our shared bilateral air objectives,” Castillo said.

Filipino officials said the exercise was not a direct response to recent Chinese military and coast guard activities in the South China Sea, where tensions have been high lately between Manila and Beijing.

Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by both countries, lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but has been under de facto Chinese control since 2012.

China: ‘On high alert’

In response, Beijing said the joint exercise was a threat to peace and stability in the waterway.

“[T]he Philippines has been colluding with countries outside the region to organize the so-called ‘joint patrols’ to deliberately undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea,” a spokesperson for China’s military said on Tuesday.

Beijing said it had also conducted a routine patrol in the airspace above Scarborough Shoal on Tuesday.

China’s air force units would remain “on high alert to resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” the spokesperson said.

Castillo said the PAF were prepared for radio challenges from China during the staging of the joint exercise, even though it proceeded “regardless of the action of other foreign actors.” As of press time, there were no reports of any such challenges.

However, there were no scenarios where the airplanes simulated dogfights, Castillo said.

“[There’s] no bombing exercise,” she said.

Under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, the Philippines and the United States are compelled to come to each other’s aid in times of external attacks. Under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, Washington said that the scenario included armed attacks in the South China Sea.

China lays claim to almost the entire South China Sea, but its claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Over the past few months, Manila and Beijing have faced off in a series of confrontations at sea.

In related news, the Philippine military accused three Chinese Navy vessels of violating rules on innocent passage during their transit in Philippine waters.

The Chinese ships – a frigate, cruiser and replenishment oiler – were first monitored in the West Philippine Sea on Monday. The West Philippine Sea is Manila’s name for South China Sea waters that lie within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The ships traveled southward and moved at a speed of six knots (11.1 kph), passing through Basilan Channel, towards Indonesia.

They were tracked by the Philippine Navy and Air Force aircraft, the military said, adding that radio challenges were also issued against the Chinese ships.

As of Tuesday morning, Trinidad said the Chinese vessels were about 120 nautical miles south of Basilan. “They are moving out of our exclusive economic zone,” he said.

During the radio challenges, the Chinese vessels said they were exercising freedom of navigation and innocent passage, according to Trinidad.

A spokesperson for China’s military also said on Monday that the passage complied with “international law and practice.”

“The violation was that the travel through our archipelagic waters was not expeditious,” Trinidad said. “They could have traveled at a faster speed. There were instances in the central part of Sulu Sea that they slowed down to five to six knots.”

Trinidad said the Chinese vessels were likely on the way to Indonesia to take part in an upcoming military exercise, dubbed Komodo, which would involve at least 37 countries.

Apart from Indonesia and China, some of the countries involved in the Komodo exercise this month are the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Australia, France, India, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.

This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on February 5 that he will not attend a Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers meeting later this month in South Africa because of its land and climate change policies and promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.’ In other words: DEI and climate change,” Rubio said on X. “My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.”

DEI, which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion, has been attacked by President Donald Trump since he returned to the White House last month. Trump is also skeptical about climate change, and last month pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement for the second time.

Trump has complained about South Africa’s land policy, saying that “South Africa is confiscating land” and “certain classes of people” are being treated “very badly.” In addition, South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, whom Trump has named as his “efficiency czar,” has accused South Africa of having “openly racist ownership laws” and suggested white people were the victims.

The question of land ownership is politically charged in South Africa due to the dispossession of land from blacks during colonialism and apartheid.

President Cyril Ramaphosa defended South Africa’s land policy last week, saying the government had not confiscated any land and the policy was aimed at ensuring equitable public access to land.

“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” Ramaphosa said on X.

Ramaphosa spoke with Musk on February 4 to raise concerns about “disinformation” being spread by the U.S. president.

White landowners still own three-quarters of South Africa’s freehold farmland. This contrasts with 4 percent owned by black people, who make up 80 percent of the population, according to the 2017 land audit.

The absence of the United States at the G20 will be a blow to the meeting. Rubio also will miss an opportunity to meet his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as Trump pushes for diplomacy on the Ukraine war.

The countries in the G20 are Argentina, Australia, Britain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States. Two regional bodies — the European Union and the African Union — also are members.

Hollywood producer David Pearce was convicted Tuesday on two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of model Christy Giles and her friend. The producer was also convicted of rape and sexual assault charges against seven other women.

In a Wednesday press release, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that Pearce had been convicted by a jury on Tuesday regarding “two counts of first-degree murder in the fentanyl overdose deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola in Beverly Hills in November 2021.”

According to The Daily Caller, Giles and Cabrales-Arzola were spotted with Pearce at a party in Los Angeles on November 13, 2021. The two victims were later given drugs and reportedly overdosed before being dropped off at two different hospitals by Pearce and Brandt Walter Osborn, the Hollywood producer’s co-defendant, according to ABC 7.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, in addition to the murder charges against Pearce, the Hollywood producer was also convicted of “rape and other sexual assaults” against seven women between 2007 and 2021.

READ MORE: Hollywood star admits ‘I’ve done some damage’

“Today, a serial rapist was held accountable for the deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, both of whom tragically died as a result of fentanyl poisoning, and the victimization of seven other women across Los Angeles,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.

Wednesday’s press release noted that the jury determined Pearce was guilty of all the charges brought against him, including two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of forcible rape, one count of sodomy by use of force, one count of sexual penetration by use of force, one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, and one count of rape of an unconscious woman.

“I thank the trial team, Deputy District Attorneys Catherine Mariano and Seth Carmack, for their tireless pursuit of justice and determination to give a voice to the women who bravely came forward to report the crimes committed against them,” Homach said in Wednesday’s press release. “The office will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who illegally supply fentanyl and destroy lives, especially those who commit sexual assaults.”

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Pearce is currently scheduled to be sentenced on March 13. The attorney’s office noted that Pearce could face up to 148 years to life in prison and that the Hollywood producer will be forced to register as a sex offender for life.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that a recent gastrointestinal illness outbreak on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship led to 89 passengers and two crew members reporting symptoms.

According to the CDC, the outbreak on the Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas was reported on Tuesday. The agency noted that the main symptoms experienced by the ill passengers and crew members were vomiting and diarrhea; however, the cause of the illness has not yet been released.

CruiseMapper’s website shows that the Radiance of the Seas departed from Tampa, Florida, on Saturday for a week-long cruise. The CDC reported that 2,164 passengers and 910 crew members were aboard the cruise ship.

Following the illness outbreak, a spokesperson for the Royal Caribbean Group told USA Today, “Enhanced measures have been implemented onboard in an abundance of caution to protect the health and comfort of all our guests and crew.”

The CDC announced that passengers and crew members with symptoms were isolated on the cruise ship and that Royal Caribbean implemented “increased cleaning and disinfection procedures.”

READ MORE: Deadly virus found in US

According to the CDC’s website, cruise ships are required to report cases of gastrointestinal illnesses to the agency. The CDC noted that gastrointestinal illness cases reported by cruise ships represent the total number of cases for an entire cruise trip. The agency added, “It does not mean all people are sick at the same time, such as when they arrive or leave a port or ship.”

USA Today reported that the recent outbreak on the Radiance of the Seas is the sixth gastrointestinal illness outbreak on a cruise ship to be reported by the agency this year. According to the outlet, the CDC reported 18 outbreaks in 2024, many of which were attributed to norovirus.

“Norovirus is often a cause of gastrointestinal illness outbreaks on cruise ships, but we don’t always know the cause of the outbreak when we begin an investigation,” the CDC noted on its website. “Finding the agent that caused an outbreak (causative agent) can take time. When an outbreak occurs, people whose symptoms met the case definition are asked to provide stool or vomitus samples. These samples are tested to determine the causative agent.”

A new report claims that former Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, who was recently fired by President Donald Trump’s administration, was evicted from her home on Tuesday with just a few hours of notice.

NBC News cited two sources familiar with Tuesday’s eviction, who claimed that Fagan was evicted from her admiral quarters at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling in Washington, D.C., after receiving just three hours of notice at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

NBC News reported that Fagan, who was fired by Trump’s former acting secretary of Homeland Security, Benjamine Huffman, on Trump’s second day in office, was initially provided with a 60-day waiver to find housing after being terminated for an “erosion of trust,” border security failures, and recruitment issues.

An anonymous Department of Homeland Security official confirmed that Fagan had been ordered to leave her housing at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling, telling NBC News, “She was terminated with cause two weeks ago today and she was still living in those admiral quarters.” The Department of Homeland Security official did not confirm or deny the report that Fagan had only been given three hours of notice.

One of the sources familiar with the situation told NBC News that while Fagan had initially been given 60 days to find alternative housing, Department of Homeland Security officials instructed Kevin Lunday, the acting commandant of the Coast Guard, to evict Fagan because “the president wants her out of quarters.” NBC News noted that the Department of Homeland Security official was not able to confirm whether Trump had given the order or whether the order had come from another official.

READ MORE: Pic: Trump admin fires top Coast Guard leader

According to NBC News, one of the sources claimed that Fagan was notified by Lunday at 2 p.m. on Tuesday that she had three hours to leave her residence. The source said that she was also given instructions to leave the house unlocked so that officials could take photos of the inside of the house.

NBC News reported that Fagan disagreed with the instructions, telling a Coast Guard official, “I do not authorize them to come into my house, whether I’m there or not.”

A former U.S. military official told NBC News that Fagan ultimately left the house at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling “with many — maybe all — of her personal items and household goods still there” and that the former commandant spent Tuesday night with her friends.

According to NBC News, the United States Transportation Command will now be responsible for moving Fagan’s personal items from the house.

“She was given a different place to stay,” an official with the Department of Homeland Security said. “We’re still providing her housing.”

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

The Canadian navy’s Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa has completed a four-day friendly visit to Cambodia where, as with all other foreign warships, it was not given access to the China-developed Ream naval base.

The frigate is on a mission to “promote peace, stability, and the rules-based international order” in the Indo-Pacific region, known as Operation Horizon.

Last month, it conducted joint exercises with the U.S. navy in the South China Sea and sailed near the Scarborough shoal, a hotspot of tension between China and the Philippines.

It also took part in La Perouse 25, a French-led multinational exercise in waters near the Indonesian archipelago.

On its first visit to Cambodia, HMCS Ottawa, with 240 crew docked from Feb.1 to Feb. 4 at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Ream base where two Chinese corvettes are the only foreign warships allowed access.

The U.S. has expressed concerns about the lack of transparency around China’s development of the base and whether it will in future serve as a de-facto foreign base for the Chinese navy, on the doorstep of the disputed South China Sea.

The Canadian ship’s visit was aimed at “strengthening solidarity and friendship between the navies of both countries,” the port’s management said.

For its part, the HMCS Ottawa hailed its visit as a show of Canada’s growing engagement with the region.

“This visit allows us to clearly demonstrate an enduring defense commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and enhance Canada’s role as a trusted international partner,” it said on its Facebook page.

Canada has been paying closer attention to maintaining strong relations with Cambodia, amid concerns over China’s growing influence there and its claims on the strategically important South China Sea.

Canada is upgrading its office in Phnom Penh to a full embassy with a resident ambassador this year. Until now, bilateral relations have been managed by its embassy in neighboring Thailand, with an office in Phnom Penh.

South China Sea disputes

Immediately before the visit to Cambodia, the HMCS Ottawa’s crew spent a couple of rest days in Surabaya, Indonesia, after the successful completion of La Perouse 25, a nine-nation maritime exercise led by the French navy, on Jan. 24, 2025.

The exercise took place in the straits of Malacca, Sunda and Lombok, which link the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Thirteen vessels from Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States and France’s Charles De Gaulle carrier strike group joined the drills, focused on maritime safety training.

The HMCS Ottawa, however, attracted most attention last month when it conducted a joint exercise codenamed Noble Wolverine with U.S. Navy destroyer USS Higgins in the disputed South China Sea.

The ships navigated through the South China Sea’s international waters while conducting communications exercises, flight operations and anti-submarine warfare training under the Chinese navy’s close watch.

China has regularly condemned what it sees as outsiders’ interference in the region over where it claims “historic rights” to almost 90% of the waterway despite protest from other littoral states.

Cambodia is not part of the South China Sea dispute but it has in recent years moved closer to China which is Cambodia’s biggest investor and provider of financial assistance.

After a taxiing plane struck a parked aircraft at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Wednesday, passengers and regulators scrambled to understand what had happened — but with no injuries or major disruptions to air travel, the airport remained mostly calm amid a puzzling sequence of events.

The incident happened around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday after Japan Airlines Flight 68 landed from Tokyo at Sea-Tac and began taxiing toward the S Concourse.

Nearby, Delta Air Lines Flight 1921 was parked as it waited for deicing before taking off for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The plane had 142 passengers on board, according to the airline.

As the Japan Airlines plane was taxiing, the right wing of the aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, struck the tail of the Delta jet, a Boeing 737 Next Generation. The Japan Airlines plane had 172 passengers and 13 crew members on board after the nine-hour flight.

The damage to both planes was significant, according to Port of Seattle spokesperson Perry Cooper. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily slowed down air traffic at Sea-Tac but it did not cause any major disruptions, Cooper said.

Both aircraft had been removed by Wednesday afternoon.

Now, the FAA will investigate what went wrong and may tap the National Transportation Safety Board, Cooper said. The FAA said the aircraft were in an area that is not under air traffic control.

Japan Airlines said in a statement Wednesday afternoon “We sincerely apologize to all involved for any inconvenience. The detailed cause and circumstances are currently under investigation.”

Brett Powers, 67, from La Conner, Skagit County, was a passenger on the Japan Airlines plane. He said the flight had landed on time and was heading toward the S Concourse when the pilot told passengers the gate they were slotted to taxi to was full.

The pilot estimated they’d wait about 10 minutes before making another attempt to enter, Powers said. Instead, the plane started taxiing a few minutes later.

Then Powers heard someone start to scream.

He couldn’t make out what the passenger on the other aisle of the plane was yelling and assumed the passenger was having a medical emergency, he said.

Moments later, Powers felt a jolt. “It felt like the pilot had hit the brakes really hard,” Powers said.

Other than the initial yelling, Powers said passengers on board did not panic and nobody appeared to be hurt. The cabin crew remained calm.

Powers had been flying back to Seattle after a three-and-a-half-week trip visiting China, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries. He travels often, he said, and the bump Wednesday didn’t make him more fearful of air travel.

Still, “that was a new one for me,” Powers said after deplaning.

It’s too soon to know what caused the planes to hit but Cooper, from the Port of Seattle, said Wednesday afternoon he didn’t expect the day’s snowy conditions led to the incident. The space was bare and wet at the time of the hit, he said.

It’s not unusual for aircraft to taxi after landing and before deplaning, Cooper said, particularly at Sea-Tac.

“We have one of the smallest footprints in any airport in the country, with the amount of operations we have here,” he said.

He estimated the taxiing Japan Airlines plane was traveling 10-20 mph before it hit the Delta jet.

Delta rebooked passengers on another flight to Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday afternoon, Cooper said. Japan Airlines canceled its next scheduled flight to Tokyo later that day, leaving many passengers rushing to figure out new travel plans.

Japan Airlines originally told passengers the flight was delayed, three passengers said. It took over an hour for them to learn the flight had been canceled and those passengers said they first found out by looking it up online, rather than through communication from the airline.

Two passengers said they could see the chaos below them from the lounge but that the airline had not told them what went wrong.

Later that morning, their mobile tickets showed the flight had been canceled due to an aircraft rotation, according to two tickets shared with The Seattle Times.

Amy Fustino, 42, from Bremerton, was traveling to Japan for work and was frustrated Wednesday about the unexpected change of plans. She was able to rebook a flight for the next day but is now flying a different airline and to a different airport. That means she has to recoordinate travel when she lands and her team is “going to have to pick up the slack” without her there.

She was frustrated the airline didn’t communicate that the flight had been canceled earlier. “I would have had more control about still being able to get out today,” Fustino said.

But she wasn’t rattled by the events on the tarmac. “I just feel like it’s par for the course at this point,” Fustino said.

She’s not worried about her flight Thursday because “I’m going to change airlines.”

Josh Blaine, Troy Lian and Colin Hooper, all from the Seattle area, were traveling to Japan with a group of 10 friends from high school for vacation.

When the flight was canceled, Japan Airlines told them it couldn’t help rebook unless they chose to do so through the airline’s website. Because the group had used different platforms to book, they scattered around the airport to talk with agents as they tried to secure refunds and new bookings.

The three friends found out the flight had been canceled while they were waiting at the gate but said they couldn’t see or hear any indication that something went wrong.

“I’m surprised nobody noticed,” Hooper said.

The scene at the gate remained calm, even as all the passengers found out what had happened, the friends said. Instead of panic over the two jets hitting, there was panic over rebooking.

Seema Khincha and her 11-year-old son Anshul got to the airport early for their flight Wednesday because they were worried the snowy weather may cause delays.

Khincha, from Kirkland, was flying on Japan Airlines to Tokyo and then on to Bengaluru, India, also known as Bangalore, to celebrate her father’s 79th birthday. Now she doesn’t know if she’ll make it.

“It scares me. I don’t know if I’ll travel again in the near future,” she said, referring to the incident Wednesday at Sea-Tac and recent crashes, including in South Korea and Washington, D.C.

Asked if she plans to rebook her flight, Khincha said, “It’s too much to process. All I’m doing is waiting for my luggage and going back home.”

___

© 2025 The Seattle Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.