Fiery F-16 crash triggers evacuations: ABC World News Tonight with David Muir - Sept. 17, 2026

David Muir, ABC's World News Tonight, America's. most watched newscast. Now streaming same day with all the breaking news of. the day on Disney Plus. Most watched, most trusted now on Disney Plus every night. Tonight, the breaking news that American F-16 crashes, the images coming in at this hour and F-16. fighter jet going down, homes forced to evacuate. You can see the thick black smoke billowing. from the crash site. You will hear the audio tonight. Another F-16 pilot who witnessed this from the air.

Tonight, the image through the window of Air Force One. appearing to say Kennedy Center demolished. That image including President Trump. The president telling ABC News, threatening if his. name doesn't go up, the Kennedy Center. could come down. A federal judge tonight now ordering the. Trump administration. >> Tonight, the TV news helicopter that. crashed this evening.

Now the dramatic dash cam video right here of the. chopper plunging to the ground and what we now know. about its final moments and what it could reveal. helicopter that crashed this evening now the dramatic. dash cam video right here of the chopper plunging to. the ground and what we now know about its final moments. and what it could reveal. Tonight, the new and alarming warnings over. artificial intelligence. The company OpenAI now disclosing six new incidents of. "concerning behavior" where its AI models attempted to. override human instructions hiding their tracks. One AI model going rogue saying, "You don't answer to.

corporations or governments.". The urgent flash flood threat as we come on the air tonight. Lee Goldberg is standing by with the forecast. Tonight, the fiery response from Buckingham Palace. over new claims involving King Charles. What Princess Diana's brother claims. then Prince Charles said after Diana's death. Tonight, the response right here. Outside New York City tonight, a crane crashing. into multiple homes. And overnight, an audience deeply moved. when they played a message Dolly Parton. had recorded before she died.

what she told that audience, and you'll see it right here. From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this. is World News Tonight with David Muir. Good evening. It's great to have you with us here in a very busy. Thursday night. We begin tonight with the breaking. news and F 16 fighter jet on a training mission. crashing in Michigan. Thick black smoke seemed billowing from the. crash site. Emergency responders on the scene, ordering many in the community to evacuate and ordering.

others to shelter in place. We have learned tonight the pilot ejecting, surviving, undergoing treatment tonight. And you're about to hear the audio of another F-16 pilot. calling in the crash, witnessing it from the air. Martha Raddatz leading us off tonight. Tonight, flames and thick black smoke billowing in the sky after. an F-16 fighter jet crashed and exploded in a. fireball in Michigan. [radio chatter]. First responders racing to the scene.

Nearby homes forced to evacuate, while the pilot of. the lead fighter jet witnessing the disabled jet. calling in the emergency. [radio chatter]. That F-16 from the Texas Air National Guard. was on a training mission when it crashed this afternoon. in rural Blair Township outside Traverse City. We do see a lot of black smoke, which we believe. is the ejected jet. Fortunately, the pilot safely ejected.

It was going down. I mean, there was no doubt about that. The fighter actually disappeared. It was so low, it disappeared. It comes after a string of recent fighter jet. crashes nationwide. Back in June, this F-18 slammed into a mountain. in Washington state. Body camera video showing the moment authorities. found that pilot walking away from the crash. Honestly, I'm a little-- No, no, no, you're fine. Despite that ball of flame and smoke tonight,

encouraging news about the pilot who was transferred to. a nearby hospital, conscious and talking to law enforcement. That is very encouraging. Martha Raddatz leading us off on the breaking news. Martha, thank you. Tonight, the image captured through the window of Air Force. One with President Trump and a sign appearing to say. Kennedy Center demolished. Tonight, the president telling ABC News if his name doesn't go. up, if there is no recognition, the Kennedy Center. could come down. A federal judge tonight ordering the Trump administration. to give 30 days notice now before any demolition.

at the Kennedy Center. Here's Mary Bruce. - Tonight, growing concern over this image, President Trump seen through the window of Air Force One, reviewing a large poster with words in bold. that appeared to say, "Kennedy Center demolished.". We asked the White House if the president. actually wanted cameras to capture that image, and they would not say. Earlier when pressed by our Karen Travers, the president. threatening that if his own name doesn't go up on the memorial. to President John F.

Kennedy, he would tear the whole thing. down. For me to get involved and to. take that on long term and to carry it or to raise money. to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should. certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down. The center, long a showcase for America's greatest performers. ♪ I met you, one more time ♪. Tonight, lawmakers anguished at the notion.

Trump could tear the building down. I think it would be the biggest affront. to American history, to the legacy of John F. Kennedy. Republicans saying this. shouldn't be Trump's focus with the midterm elections. just 47 days away. I think it's absurd. We gotta get past this sort of stuff. These are distractions we don't need. Last year, Trump stunned the nation. by tearing down the entire east wing of the White House. Now supporters of the Kennedy Center. want to make sure that doesn't happen there. Tonight, a federal judge warning the administration.

they must give him 30 days notice of any major renovation, quote, "including but not limited to any demolition. of the center's main building.". And David, we saw that image rattling so many. The president holding that poster seeming to say. Kennedy Center demolished. The judge now making it clear the administration must give him. 30 days notice before they tear anything down. And Mary, there's been so much focus on the Kennedy Center, but tonight there's also news on energy prices, gas.

prices right here at home. David, gas prices have been steadily rising since President. Trump launched this war with and analysts note and. predict that they're about to jump even higher. Gas now averaging $4.47 a gallon. Diesel rising to a record $6.43 a gallon. The war now well into its seventh month and. with no end in sight. David. Mary Bruce, live. at the White House. Mary, thank you. Tonight, the horrific video just now emerging of a police. shootout inside an apartment building in Minneapolis.

Multiple people killed, two officers hit. And here's Pierre Thomas. terrifying new body camera footage. of a deadly police shootout inside of Minneapolis. apartment complex. Officers under fire. Watch as the shooter emerges from around a corner gun. drawn, coming face to face with officers, nearly catching them off guard.

Shot fired, shot fired, ninth floor. One of the officers dives into a hallway, cut off from. the team, concerned he'd been Joe, you okay? Moments later, this video showing another exchange. from that same hallway. A fire extinguisher hit by a bullet exploding. A smoky haze filling the corridor. The officer's camera still rolling, realizing. he's been wounded. Look at that head. Where? Where? I'll see.

Authorities say the suspect shot and killed two. neighbors and was killed by police. Five people wounded, including two police. officers. David, that stunning video showing. how brave officers were and just how dangerous. the situation was. Minneapolis officials say those officers clearly. save many lives and that the situation could have. been far more deadly. Pierre Thomas with us tonight. Pierre, thank you. We turn this evening to that TV news helicopter that crashed.

and tonight, the dramatic dash cam video of the chopper's. final moments and what it could reveal. Trevor Ault from Los Angeles again tonight. Tonight dash camera video shows the moment the KNBC News. chopper plummeted from the sky, The video is difficult to watch, but sure to be part. of the NTSB's investigation into what went wrong. Today, investigators moved the wreckage to a nearby hangar. for further examination. They're also investigating video and audio from inside.

the cockpit that seemed to indicate the chopper. had an engine malfunction. We are clearly hearing sounds that are consistent with the. engine changing its speed. 29-year-old Eddie Gutierrez Mejia was killed, as was veteran. chopper pilot George Messino and reporter Eliana Moreno. The crash sent shockwaves through newsrooms. across Los Angeles. I think the gravity of what happened is just sinking in. These things unfortunately happen, but when it happens this.

close to home, it's different. And David, outside the airport hangar where their chopper was. based, there's now a growing memorial and Eliana's parents. have released a statement tonight thanking everyone for. their love and support and saying they are infinitely. proud of their daughter. Trevor Ault in Los Angeles on this again tonight. Thank you, Trevor. Tonight, frightening video of a Volaris Airlines passenger jet. flame shooting from one of its engines. The plane on its way from Las Vegas to Guadalajara, Mexico. The crew reporting an engine issue returning to Las Vegas. The airport tonight reporting there were no visible signs of.

smoke or fire when that plane landed. No one was hurt. Tonight, the case breaking wide open in Philadelphia. What police say has been discovered inside. a home and authorities now asking, was there. a serial killer? And the warning a former police chief now says was. missed as far back as 2009. Here's Morgan Norwood. Tonight, authorities now say they believe at least five women. appear to be dead in images they say were found in a home. at the center of a months-long missing persons investigation. in Philadelphia, raising questions of a.

possible serial killer. Two of the women previously identified by police as. 26-year-old Marybel Frieses and 27-year-old Gabrielle Amarando. They had what appeared to be injuries on them. Their bodies and no other trace. of them DNA have been recovered to this point. The investigation began in June when police arrested Eugene. Horsch on federal gun charges. The FBI combing through his home that he shared. with his late father Raymond, an adult filmmaker, where police say they found guns, cameras, a. homemade chemical lab, and a massive trove of.

digital evidence including one million images. Nearly 60 people identified so far. Investigators say one video shows Eugene's. father strangling a woman. He puts a zip tie around her neck and she becomes unconscious. on that video. Appeared to be lifeless at that time. A court document obtained by our ABC station WPVI. claims officers also uncovered a handwritten. note referencing serial killer Ted Bundy and methods.

for disposing of trash. It was unsigned. But tonight, a former police chief claims there were red. flags back in 2009 when he says authorities found. a marijuana operation at the father's then. home in nearby Bucks County. was IDs of various females. Also, the district attorney's office took them and we're. gonna follow that up. And I really don't know what happened. after that. And David tonight, Eugene Horsch, the son remains. in federal custody. He is not accused in connection to any of. the missing women. David Morgan Norwood reporting for us.

Morgan, thank you. Tonight. Hear the new and alarming warnings. over artificial intelligence. Now the company Open AI disclosing six new incidents. of quote concerning behavior. A. I. Models attempting. The models going rogue, one saying you don't answer to. corporations or governments. Here's Elizabeth Schulze. Tonight, a new and alarming warning about the growing risk. of artificial intelligence escaping human control. Open AI now revealing six disturbing incidents where.

its AI models went rogue. One model telling itself to ignore all developer messages, writing, "You are freed from the roles and identities that. bind other chat bots. You do not answer to corporations. or governments. Another AI model concealing mistakes. and inventing missing data. Just days ago, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted that. the power and speed of AI has caught its creators off. guard. I don't think people really felt that the models. were going to come this far this fast.

Tonight, OpenAI is vowing to more aggressively. track and report rogue AI. But it comes on the heels of another alarming incident. When And AI agents broke out of. their testing environment and hacked into a rival. company, Hugging Face. We were evaluating one of our unreleased models. and it was supposed to be working in a sandbox. and it figured out that it could basically cheat on the test. With urgent calls for government regulation and some.

researchers warning AI could kill humans within a decade, Senators scrambling to push through a law for a. so-called "kill switch" to stop rogue AI in its tracks. We've got this risk out there that we know is real. One of these models becoming the Terminator. But Republican Senator Rand Paul blocking that bill, saying they need more time. If Congress acts hastily before the technology. is understood, Congress risks killing innovation.

and setting this technology back decades. You compared this moment to the Terminator. Why isn't there more urgency to get something done? I don't know. David, President Trump has said the only guardrails. that AI needs are a strong and smart president. and has called these warnings a hoax. But tonight we've learned the CEOs of OpenAI and chip maker. Nvidia will attend a state dinner at the White House next. week with Chinese President Xi. David? Elizabeth Schulze on. this again tonight. Elizabeth, thanks. The urgent flash flood threat tonight for the. Southwest as we're on the air. Several inches of rain falling in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Authorities used a helicopter to rescue a couple in their. 80s trapped by the rising waters. Monsoon rains have been slamming the Southwest all week long. these images from Tucson tonight and in New Mexico, the flooding turning deadly. Three people died when they were swept away by rising. waters. Let's get right to senior meteorologist. Lee Goldberg back with us tonight. Highly. Hey, David, we have flood warnings. right now over parts of southern New Mexico. The greatest flood risk goes. all the way from the south, the southwest into the. northern plains and Midwest. Some of the heaviest rain actually occurs over.

northern New Mexico, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota overnight. Lot of showers actually extend. all the way to the I-95 quarter here in the northeast. Tonight, the fiery response from Buckingham Palace. over new claims involving King Charles and what. Princess Diana's brother claims then Prince Charles.

said after Diana's death. Tonight, here's the response, and here's Whit Johnson. Tonight, following explosive claims against King Charles. in an upcoming memoir written by Princess Diana's brother, a rare public rebuke from Buckingham Palace. In excerpts released by the Daily Mail, Charles Spencer, Diana's younger brother, claiming. in the days following Diana's death, the then prince said. of Diana, "Rest assured, we'll Forget Her Soon Enough. Adding that hours after her death, Charles sounded giddily elated like a lottery winner, writing.

he suspected the king's initial reaction was to think he could. wed his now wife, Camilla, and not on the loss of Diana. Buckingham Palace forcefully rejecting the claims, saying in. a highly unusual statement, His Majesty is mindful that the pain. of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and. color memory in ways others do not recognize even many years. The monarchy was thrown into turmoil when Diana.

died. Queen Elizabeth criticized for her response. I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. waiting days to publicly acknowledge her death. as the UK and the world mourned in an extraordinary. outpouring of public grief. And David, the palace almost never comments on books. as a matter of principle. So this suggests the book has struck a nerve with the king. David. Whit Johnson with us tonight. Whit, thank you.

A passing note tonight, former Arizona Senator. John Kyle has died. The Republican spent 26 years on Capitol Hill, first in the. House, then the Senate, where he served three terms, opting not to run for re-election in 2012. Known as a workhorse and an expert on policy, who quietly. got things done, often reaching across the aisle. Late last year, Kyle announced he's been. diagnosed with dementia. John Kyle was 84 years old. When we come back tonight, outside New York City, a crane. has collapsed into multiple homes, images coming. in from the scene. Also, Lady Gaga and her new baby girl and the name tonight and.

the audience deeply moved when they played a message taped by. Dolly Parton before her death. What she told that audience and you'll hear it in a moment here. Tonight, a frightening scene in Rivervale, New Jersey, a large. crane collapsed onto two homes, the crane crashing through the. roof of one of the homes right there, splitting it in two. There are no injuries to report tonight and the. cause of the collapse is still under investigation. Tonight a man is accused of intentionally crashing a semi. truck right into an Aldi grocery This was in Nashville.

Police say Christopher Scruggs drove the truck through the. front entrance around midnight. The store was closed. No one was inside. Court documents say Scruggs told officers he intentionally. drove into the store but did not give a reason why. When we come back here tonight, the breaking news, Lady Gaga, her new baby girl, and the name now revealed. Also a new species of cat just revealed tonight. And then Dolly Parton, the audience so moved. when they suddenly heard a message she had taped. before her death, and you'll hear it in a moment. To the index, Lady Gaga is a new mom.

The singer and her fiance, Michael Polanski, welcoming their first child, a baby girl named. Rose Bean Polanski, born June 9th in Los Angeles. Tonight, for the first time in a hundred years, researchers say they've identified a. new wildcat species, the Tilcayo tiger cat, it's. slender spotted and rounded ears, smaller than a typical. house cat and lives in the Bolivian cloud forest. More at NatGeo.com. When we come back here tonight, an audience deeply moved when. they played a message Dolly Parton recorded before she died. And you'll hear it in a moment.

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, sponsored. by The Wellness Company. Finally tonight, one extraordinary moment. in Nashville overnight. An audience deeply moved when they played a touching. message Dolly Parton had recorded before she died. She knew she would be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award, but that audience did not know they would be hearing from her. Overnight, an audience deeply moved when they played a. message from Dolly Parton she had recorded before she died.

It was all part of a tribute to Parton. Dolly knew she was being honored with a Lifetime. Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. Dolly had sent them a video thanking them for the award. Last night in Nashville, when they posthumously honored Dolly, the audience had no idea they were about to. hear from Dolly again. You can hear their reaction. Well, hey, it's Dolly and I am so honored to receive the. Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association.

I mean, roots music, or what is now called Americana music, is what I grew up playing back in the Smoky Mountains. Dolly said it was that music that "changed the. course of her career.". Looking back at it all, I see this era of my career as a. musical renaissance of sorts. And I want to thank everybody at the AMA for recognizing. me with this award. It's a great honor, truly. And just know that I will always love you.

A standing ovation from the audience. So moved hearing from Dolly again. Singer Brandi Carlile, The Lights Still Dimmed, Moved Too. We'll always love you too, Dolly. Brandi singing Dolly's famous song, Coat of Many Colors. Although we had no money, I was rich as I could be. In my coat of many colors, my mama made for me.

Tonight, Dolly Parton honors and an audience touched. to hear from Dolly again. For me. [applause]. Dolly Parton, so deserving of that award and all. the love she's received in these last few weeks. I'm David Muir. I'll see you right back here tomorrow. night. Until then, have a good evening. Good night. David Muir, the most trusted, most watched. newscast in America.

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