that breaking news, a southwest airlines plane now safely on the ground at oakland international airport. passengers heard the pilot say what you never want to hear. "we have a problem." >> even worse than that, there is a mechanical issue. p the pilot discovered it shortly after takeoff and made the decision to turn back, but not until after three hours of circling to burn off fuel. amy is live at the airport. amy, what a frightening experience for those passengers.

>> reporter: na tasha, a passenger is tweeting about it. his name is jeffrey adkins. there was a banging and a flash of light after the gear was going back into the plane, but he said the landing was smooth and uneventful. he is trying to catch another flight. they're checking the plane for any mechanical issues it may have. they're refueling it and sending it on to chicago which was the original plan. here is video within the last hour. the plane was circling. it had radioed in that it was having problems. they issued a yellow alert so crews were ready just in case. we saw firefighters and the faa on standby. we all held our breath as we saw the plane come in just after 10:00 this morning and felt full relief as it landed smoothly and safely. no problems. a nice problem-free landing. and the 139 people on board must have felt such joy. those on the ground did, too.

>> yeah. i mean, at first, on a personal level, i'm glad it wasn't my plane, you know. but then you feel sorry for the people on there. i'm just glad they're all home safe, that they're on the ground. >> reporter: here's another look at that landing. we have been told there was a problem with the landing gear, that this is flight 2547. it was bound for chicago from oakland. the captain in command decided to turn around because of the issue, and the statement from southwest airlines reads, safety is of paramount importance to the airline and they appreciate the customers' patience while they work to get them to their final destination for the holidays. we're reporting live from oakland, amy hollifield. >> hundreds of you praising the pilots and crew for this safe landing. you can see judith tweeting now. i have to try spending the rest of the day not telling my daughter about the southwest incident. she's flying southwest home

tonight. >> and someone else said, thanks to the successful landing for pilot and crew. >> so happy that the southwest airplane landed safely in oakland. that pilot needs a raise, says somebody else. >> as they were trying to make it back to oakland, they had to burn off fuel first. this image from flight aware shows the sporadic route the plane took as it was trying to burn off fuel. you can see the plane took several loops as it circled for hours, mostly over the tracy area, making sure they don't land overweight. stay tuned for continued coverage of the southwest emergency landing. anthony sat the airport gathering reaction from passengers and the latest information that we have. you can catch her report this afternoon at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 and you can follow her on twitter at lauraanthony7. as soon as that landed, sky

7 went to this scene. it is live right now over an accident at harrison and 7th street. the officer is at the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. no word yet on what caused this crash or accident or the condition of the other driver. we'll be sure to update you as soon as we have more information. follow us on twitter at abc7newsbayarea. if you're headed out of town like you know a lot of you are, or if you're welcoming folks traveling to you, does it seem a little more crowded? 100,000-plus people are traveling this day. we are joined in san jose where apparently they chose to drive. >> reporter: we're here in san jose on connor road. people are here filling up their tanks with gas with some of the lowest prices we've seen since 2009. so why not travel for the holidays s

holidays? it can be a dog eat dog world out there, especially if you're traveling two days after christmas. for boston terriers lila, willie nelson and their human companions, it was smooth sailing. >> they're good travelers. >> the two-legged travelers found nothing but statuses. they're slowing down flights as the day goes on. with people hitting the roads, there will be a record number of people on the roads this holiday season. over 9 million people will be traveling by car. traffic will be a major issue and so will snow. the lake tahoe area got 3 feet of the white stuff in just 24 hours. she is headed to reno. >> we're expecting traffic. there will be traffic. and lots of snow. >> reporter: one perk is the lowest gas prices in about seven years. the lowest in california is about $2.70 a gallon. nationwide it's $2 a gallon.

with your grocery store discount, some filled up for as little as $2.09 a gallon. >> it's perfect. it's like a free gift. >> reporter: if you don't have a safeway card, there are other places with lower prices. i just checked my gas buddy app and found one place here in san jose with gas at $2.45 a gallon. here is something to keep in mind if you're flying home for christmas. this is the first major holiday that new tsa security rules are in place. up until today, passengers could opt out of going through body scanners so long as they agreed to a pat-down. not anymore. the department of homeland security updated its protocol so the tsa can force passengers to go through that scanner. we know a lot of you are looking forward to getting out of town and going skiing. we just checked to see if chains are required, so be aware of

that. here's interstate 80 in truckee. a blanket of winter white covers lake tahoe once you get there. that's a live look at the mountain resort. it shows plenty of snow near the ski lifts, and a storm is expected to bring, yes, even more rain to the bay area. >> we have a look at what's in store for our holiday travel. mike? >> reporter: everybody enjoying a break right now, but don't let that umbrella get too far away from you. let's start with tahoe. you can see the areas in pink. that is a winter storm warning that starts at 1:00 tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on what time you get up. 1 to 2 feet overpasses by 4:00 friday morning, and by 10:00 tomorrow evening, 6 to 18 inches at lake level. you can see 19 to 20 inches at don inner, tahoe city 13, south tahoe 18, and kirkwood, nearly two feet of snow. this will be our best chance for

heavy snow in tahoe. snow showers friday, saturday, sunday, monday and tuesday. if you're traveling around, look at all that wet weather. we have delays in chicago, all three new york airports. even tornadoes possible around memphis. so make sure you call ahead to find out your destination, or if you're connecting somewhere, if there are any delays. natasha, reggie? crews are going to try to recover bodies from a plane crash in rockland. he was on his way to lake placid when he lost control with air traffic control. officials right now are saying that weather played a role in this crash. the family of a bay area girl who is legally dead will continue their fight today to have her ruled legally alive. they plan to announce a federal lawsuit this afternoon.

over two years ago, she was declared brain dead. she is now on a ventilator at a new jersey hospital. they are trying to find two people that were left homeless right before christmas. they spent about 40 minutes working to put that fire out so it didn't spread to other homes. the red cross is now helping the two people who are displaced. the woman accused of mowing down more than 30 pedestrians on the las vegas strip made her first court appearance this morning. you're looking at 25-year-old a lakeisha holloway. she is being charged with child endangerment. she intentionally ran her car up onto a sidewalk, injurikilling

person and injuring 36 others. after ten hoverboards in nine states caught fire, including one here in brentwood, airlines decide to do ban them. now a university in d.c. is following their lead, starting on january 1. there is a law you should know. it also applies to scooters or skateboards with a motor. starting on january 1st, you have to be 16 years old or older to ride one in public. you also have to wear a helmet. you can only ride them on specified bike paths or highways, and you cannot ride them on bicycle paths or trails. starting a week from friday, if you have five or more cars behind you, you have to pull over to let them pass. this applies to any two-lane highway, for example, highway 1 or 92. until now the law only applied to passenger cars, but now expands to all vehicles, trucks

and, yes, cyclists. we saw a holiday homecoming for a reality star. the real housewife who is celebrating with family. an incredible near-miss caught on camera. the reaction after a star skier almost gets wiped out by a drone. what a

take a look at your screen. this jaw-dropping video from italy getting reaction this morning. you can understand why. that is one of the world's top skiers, marshall hersher almost getting hit by a falling drone, exploding into pieces next to him. the drone was actually being used to film today's competition, and after that happened, it's unlikely they will use a drone again. >> you think? teresa zederci is home this morning. she was released from prison and went straight home after serving nearly a year for fraud. she's been known for her lavish lifestyle and hot temper. you might know herbert if i say she's the one that flipped the table on somebody? she told abc news she was doing her best to be brave for her four daughters. originally sentenced to 14

months, she was released after 12 for good behavior. her husband joe will start serving his 41-month sentence in march. kids. they do the craziest things. >> a 7-year-old girl called 911 after she thought she made the magic of christmas go away. >> did you mean to call 911? did you make a mistake? >> isabella was worried because she touched her elf on the shelf. according to the children's book -- i did not realize this -- but if you touch it, then the magic of christmas disappears. >> have you ever seen so many in one place, by the way? >> tshe told the new jersey operator that she meant to call her dad. she said, don't come to the house, but she had the police stop by to make sure everything was okay. >> she won't call 911 again.

>> her mother said she panicked after a toy ball hit it. step away from the doll. let's check to see if everything is going to be okay with our holiday weather. mike? >> as long as you don't touch the man on the roof. notice i don't have an umbrella, but i am getting blown by a few breezes and those winds will bring in another storm, and it's going to affect just about all day tomorrow. it could leave the white stuff behind here at home. i'll have the timing for that and just where it's going to land on our storm impact scale, coming up. what was that? we have the answer. >> just call him dre'. he and other

some of you saw a fireball across the sky last night. it turned out it was russian space debris. >> people saw it here, in nevada, and in arizona. apparently it was a decaying russian rocket booster blowing up as it entered the atmosphere. the russian space agency hasn't yet commented on what happened. let's go up to the roof right now. that's where mike niko is. it looks cool but it actually looks nice where you are. >> getting to see the moon. we come in on dry on dry pavement, but that's all going to change. let's take a look at some of this video near pier 14 in san francisco. you can see the kids walking around in the water as the tidal

surge came up today to one of its highest levels, and it's going to do the same thing tomorrow. if it's flooding here in san francisco, you can imagine what it was doing in mill valley, especially near the park-n-ride where we always see a lot of flooding. we peaked at about 9:22. we'll peak tomorrow about 10:07 and then it will climax again. we'll have some minor flooding for friday and saturday at about 10:30 and then about 11:15 on saturday. winds are a big issue again. look at these double digit breezes. actually, these are sustained winds. the breezes are gusting up to 20 to 25. that's why you can see from our mt. vios camera, things are shaking today. rain and snow and thunder. that's here. here's a look at why we need more rain. we should be right behind livermore at 99%, but everyone

else around 40% in oakland to 85 in san francisco. if you think it's rained a lot t has, but we should get three-quarters of an inch of rain with snow at 2,000 feet. here we are, 5:00 tonight. if you're heading out, take an umbrella. we have scattered showers that will fill in most of our neighborhoods overnight. the studies of the light to moderate rains moving to 5:00 in the north bay start sliding into the heart of the bay between 7:00 and 8:00 into the south bay. about 10:00 it will pull out and you can see scattered showers develop. our higher elevations as we head into the evening hours, and then you can see by the time we get to midnight, most of the storms are going to move over to the coast and that's where they're going to stay as we head towards christmas morning. about a quarter to a half inch and that's why we're a category

2. here's a look at the intensity. it's coming in waves with the biggest wave in the morning commute and the second wave around 10:00. this is a cold core system straight to santa claus' house and that's why our highs are in the low to mid-50s. look at our lows. friday morning, saturday morning, sunday morning we'll have frost in the inland valley. if we don't see much snow on the top of our hills, at least we'll have frost christmas morning on the grass. make a wish foundation will host ten kids with life-threatening conditions. yesterday they supplied javon green with his list. he was shot several times last april outside his

by the way, the warriors are gearing up for a match christmas day. you can see it right here on abc 7. our coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. that is on friday. watch this next clip and decide if you're ready for this. >> you'll never be ready. is it creepy christmas or christmas future? no, that is not

coming up on abc 7, we showed you the snow piling up on the sierra, right? but how important is it to easing california's drought? the good news and bad news at 4:00. how he and other nba stars are leading a new civil rights movement. that's on abc 7 news at 5:00. santa was asking kids, what would you like for christmas? >> what if he asked, what would scare you the most this christmas? and would it look like this? ♪ >> yeah, this is google's spinoff in dynamics. it's showing off these robotic reindeer retrofitted to look like rudolph and the gang. >> sort of. >> yeah, not really. some think it's kind of creepy,

others think it's the greatest thing ever. >> it's getting a lot of play on social media today, and you won't be able to wipe it from your head after you see it, so good luck with that. thanks forjoining joining us t. >> have a great one.

>> today on this stage, a single contestant will continue their journey toward a possible $1 million prize, and you'll be with them every step of the way. this is "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic music] ♪ hello, everybody. i'm chris harrison. welcome to the show. are you guys ready to play "millionaire" today? [cheers and applause] good, because we are starting off with a bang. our returning contestant is a single mom who will do anything for her kids. today, she may be bringing home a huge surprise. from crestwood, kentucky, please welcome back julie baker. [cheers and applause] julie! >> hey. >> welcome back. >> thank you. >> julie, welcome back. >> thank you. >> you are at $50,000,