right now on america this morning, mid-air scares one plane's wing catching on fire, terrifying passengers while the pilot of another airline dies after a medical emergency mid-flight. >> what we're learning about both incidents breaking overnight, an entire canadian city ordered to evacuate as a wildfire nears. >> tens of thousands of people now racing to leave the territorial capital before the fire, possibly reaches the city this weekend. plus new video depicting what could be the

start of the deadly wildfire on maui. >> a new court ruling on the abortion pill, what it means for women's access to the drug. >> an urgent health warning, three deaths now linked to a flesh eating bacteria infected after eating raw oysters or swimming in saltwater. why doctors are seeing more cases. >> forget the murder hornet. there's a new bug in town where the invasive yellow legged hornet was found for the first time. >> and we have a winner. meet the kid crowned mullet champion. and what he plans to buy his sister with the prize money. it's thursday august 17th >> from abc news in new york. >> this is a merica this morning . >> good morning, everyone. i'm andrew dymburt. >> good thursday morning. a morgan norwood in for rhiannon. and we begin with two major midair mishaps that left passengers frightened. >> flames shot out of a plane's engine as it left houston, forcing an emergency landing.

and horrifying witnesses on the ground. >> and during a flight from miami to santiago. a pilot suffered a medical emergency with tragic results. abc's lionel moise has details this morning. >> two midair scares of seven. there was indications of an injured fire. but first, flames shooting out from the engine of a southwest airlines jet headed to cancun from houston. the plane had to turn around and make an emergency landing. >> i say ceo sam, do you still have one engine shutdown? is that correct? >> southwest says the plane experienced a mechanical issue shortly after takeoff. >> in this particular case is what we call a compressor stall. most likely. and even though it's not dangerous, it's certainly as frightening. >> and in miami, tense moments as a pilot suffered a medical emergency in the middle of a latam airlines flight headed to santiago, chile. there were three pilots on board, and the crew tried to save his life. what goes through the mind of a pilot when there's an emergency like that happening? >> number one is maintain

aircraft control. and we do that very well. and we're trained to do that. and panic is not something that we train airline pilots for. the plane made an emergency stop in panama city, but latam airlines says after landing and receiving further medical assistance, the pilot passed away. >> we're still human. >> and this is a human thing that can happen. but this is why we don't have one pilot only flying giant airliners, because somebody needs to take over in a situation of incapacity. passengers were seen clapping as the plane finally landed in santiago. >> experts say while we may hear of aviation issues more frequently, there's no need for concern. mighty 6000 flights a day all over the planet. >> go out and come back with absolutely nothing going wrong. and when things do go wrong, we usually end up reporting that everybody got back safely. >> the cause of death has not been released for the pilot who died, but the airline says he flew with them for 25 years. as for the southwest flight that caught fire. the faa says it's

investigating andrew morgan. >> lionel, thank you. now to breaking news in canada. a raging wildfire is forcing new evacuations. the biggest city in the northwest territories, yellowknife has been ordered to evacuate a massive fire as it closes in. the city is home to 20,000 people. forecasters say the flames could reach the city this weekend. this is canada's worst wildfire season on record with more than 1000 wildfire burning across the country. now to a possible cause in the wildfire disaster in maui. >> new video is fueling speculation that downed power lines were the initial spark. here's abc's melissa don. >> recovery efforts continue on the island of maui. the county mayor authorizing relief for the many homes destroyed during the deadly wildfire. >> i'm authorizing waiving property taxes for this year, and that includes structures as well as land. the taxes that have already been paid will be refunded to those families, survivors sharing how they managed to stay alive despite

the dangerous conditions last week. >> the power line just went down. >> shane true says he used a garden hose to battle the flames in lahaina and believes those flames may have been caused by a downed power line. >> that whole place was just engulfed. sean cunanan sharing how his home was destroyed. >> i got one picture i grabbed from my house and i grabbed my passport. >> that's the only thing in my cat. >> this surveillance video from the maui bird conservation center shows a spark that flash followed by a downed power line . one expert telling abc news those videos taken inland from lahaina show the flames spreading and may be the first evidence of downed power lines igniting a fire. >> we've got that video of that kind of explosion in that arc flash, and we've got ten sensors in that community that show a very sharp drop in electrical voltage at precisely that same time, state and maui county officials updating the community on the disaster response. >> the governor explaining his decision to open the road to

lahaina. >> we felt it was necessary after seven days to begin to restore some psychological normalcy for people impacted residents are now working to figure out long term housing plans. >> meantime, fema says they're on the ground here trying to assist as many as they can. melissa dunn, abc news, maui. >> melissa, thank you. the georgia prosecutor who indicted former president trump and 18 of his associates is pushing for racketeering trial for that racketeering trial to begin in march on the eve of super tuesday. but first, they're all facing a deadline to surrender. abc's em wynn joins us now with the very latest. good morning. >> good morning, andrew. the next step for trump and his co defendants is to be arraigned, appear before a judge and enter their pleas this morning. all eyes on georgia where former president donald trump and 18 alleged coconspirators have less than ten days to turn themselves in to face charges in georgia after a grand jury indicted them

for allegedly playing a role in a criminal enterprise seeking to overturn the 2020 election result. >> because he was seeking to obstruct the counting of the electoral college votes that is enough to go ahead and turn that into a criminal act. >> fulton county district attorney fani willis revealing she wants arraignments to take place in three weeks with a trial start date of march 4th, one day before super tuesday. if granted by the judge, the 2024 republican frontrunner is looking at a jam packed court schedule as he heads into the primaries in the separate federal election interference case against trump, the special counsel is asking for trial to start january 2nd. and for trump's case in new york over hush money payments trial is already scheduled for march 25th. trump's legal team is likely to follow in the footsteps of his former chief of staff, mark meadows, and try to move his georgia case to federal court. >> federal removal is a very smart strategy. it's the first thing i do gets you a better jury pool gets you likely friendlier judges in georgia, we're expecting precedented

transparency, unlike trump's previous three indictments, cameras will be allowed in court and each defendant can be expected to be fingerprinted and photographed for a mugshot. >> rudy giuliani, who's facing 13 criminal counts in part for falsely accusing poll workers of stealing ballots, says he's preparing to turn himself in. well i'll pick a day next week, try to work out the conditions of bail. trump is expected to address the georgia case during a press conference monday. he has denied any wrongdoing, calling all investigations as politically motivated. andrew m thank you. >> the biden administration is vowing to appeal a ruling that would limit access to a widely used abortion pill. the federal appeals court upheld a lower court's restriction on mifepristone that would ban telemedicine, prescriptions and shipments through the mail. that decision will have no effect on access to mifepristone until the supreme court weighs in. >> secretary of state antony blinken has spoken with paul

whelan, an american citizen wrongfully imprisoned in russia for nearly five years now, whelan's family tells abc news that paul described his conversation with blinken as long and frank when he called them afterwards. they also say that blinken assured him us officials are doing everything possible to secure his freedom. >> time now for a look at your thursday morning weather. storms are expected today from the carolinas to florida. the storm in north carolina was part of that same system that killed a woman in her car near duke university. the winds strong enough to push a barbecue right off the deck. also, more rain and storms today in upstate new york and new england. some areas were getting an inch of rain per hour yesterday. and then we checked today's high temperatures in northwest heat wave begins to break triple digits in the southwest and texas.

about the murder. >> hornets experts are warning now about its cousin, the yellow legged hornet. >> also ahead, the major announcement from team usa overnight after the women's soccer team had their worst ever world cup. >> and closing the gap between supply and demand for organs. and update from doctors about the pig kidney functioning properly in a hu

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man: z-w-x. vo: you're not okay to drive. man: y-g-k-l-v-w...regular u. >> good morning, america. back with heroic moments in michigan. >> a police officer off duty and resting at home monday here screaming outside, then reports on his radio of a child who was choking surveillance video shows him rushing to the scene. someone hands him. the three year old and the rookie officer begins pressing on the child's back, eventually reviving him and the child is expected to be okay. >> the coach of the us women's soccer team is resigning today, just days after his squad's

world cup exit. vlatko and a.c. 151 matches nearly four years as coach. but the team just finished its worst ever world cup being eliminated in the second round. the next coach will have to immediately start focusing on next summer's olympics. >> staying in the world of sports, the couple in the blindside battle says claims the former or the family exploited former nfl lineman michael or r ludicrous or is suing sean and leanne tuohy insisting he was tricked into signing conservatorship document when he was a homeless teenager. he claims he's owed millions. the two e's attorney says the relationship wasn't about money . >> they don't need his money. they didn't. they've never needed his money. mr. tuohy sold his company for $220 million. he didn't need mr. his money or wants the conservatorship dissolved. >> the two, he say they're willing to end it and are upset about the accusations as well. >> doctors in new york city say a recent procedure involving a

genetically modified pig's kidney is a landmark step forward in an attempt to solve the growing need for kidneys in humans. abc's stephanie ramos has the story. >> a major medical breakthrough bringing us one step closer to using animal organs in humans. surgeons at nyu langone announcing they have transplanted a pig kidney into a brain dead patient. and for the first time, that kidney genetically modified to better match a human body, has functioned for more than a month without the body rejecting it. >> the pig kidney appears to replace all of the important tasks that the human kidney manages. >> the sister of that patient, 57 year old maurice mo miller, saying this groundbreaking study is what her brother would have wanted. >> he would be proud of the fact that in the tragedy of his death , his legacy will be helping many people live. >> the hope is that one day pig kidneys could ease a dire shortage of organs. more than 100,000 americans are waiting

for an organ, but each year, only about a third will get one. 17 people die each day waiting at the end of the day, we have to think about all the people who are dying right now because we don't have enough organs. researchers will continue to monitor the kidney for another month. experts say this new evidence could pave the way for future clinical trials in living patients. stephanie ramos, abc news, new york. >> our thanks to stephanie ramos for that report. well, coming up, the big payout coming to some iphone users. >> also ahead, the new warning about an infection linked to raw seafood and seawater

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iphone users their checks are in the mail. >> the company says it will pay up to $500 million to settle the so-called battle gate class action lawsuit about six years ago, users began accusing apple of deliberately slowing down older iphones with aging batteries. payments will amount to about 65 bucks per person. >> well, a dangerous alien hornet has invaded the us for the first time ever. the yellow legged hornet you see there is a relative of what we know as the murder hornet, an alert beacon spotted one on his property near savannah, georgia, and contacted agriculture officials. now the pest preys on honeybees and poses an extreme risk to the honey industry. unless it's taken out pretty quickly. >> a rare and potentially deadly bacteria is causing concerns around the country. and you can get it either where you swim or from what you eat. this morning, an urgent new warning about swimming in saltwater and eating raw shellfish. officials have announced three deaths in recent weeks, two in connecticut and

one in new york from vibrio, an illness caused by flesh eating bacteria found naturally in saltwater. people can get infected through an open wound or by eating raw infected shellfish, including oysters, clams and scallops. >> this organism kind of just floats in the water. it's associated with oysters, which are there to kind of filter the water. >> experts say the number of cases of vibrio have increased over the years, likely due to warming coastal waters where the bacteria thrives. it's not just the northeast seeing more cases last month, three people died from vibrio infections in north carolina, symptoms of vibrio include stomach cramps, vomiting, fever and chills. precautions for avoiding the potentially deadly bacteria include protecting open wounds from seawater, and doctors say people with compromised immune systems should be careful eating or handling raw seafood. >> typically, it's patients with diabetes peripheral vascular disease, which means reduced blood flow to the limbs. >> anybody on immunosuppression medications that can cause you

to be immuno compromised chronic liver disease also. >> health officials are urging doctors to be on the lookout for cases of vibrio because it's often not on their radar. >> well, now to sports. an unusual play in the bay by tampa bay. san francisco game happened in that game, rather. >> yeah. rays pinch hitter luke raley hits the drive to right center field. the ball hits the bricks, then careens back toward the center of the field and well out of the reach of the san francisco outfielders. by the time they track it down, rally is already at third and he ends up with a stand up inside the park home run. tampa won the game 6 to 1. you don't see that every day, but always a treat when you do. >> quite unusual. well, still to come, britney spears husband filing for divorce. what we're learning this morning. >> plus, we have a winner meet the new champion of the kids national mullet contest next (bill) when we started blue buffalo, we made a promise to our boy blue - that we would create the best pet food we possibly could, made with the finest natural ingredients

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morning, america. >> time to check the pulse, beginning with a shocker involving britney spears. >> yeah, a lot of people talking about this when the reports say spears and her husband, sam asghari, are divorcing only 14 months after they tied the knot. so the breakup reportedly came after a major blowout during which he accused her of cheating , a charge that she adamantly denies. >> and then just hours after the news broke, she announced her next move on instagram, saying she's, quote, buying a horse soon. okay. still living her best life. yeah. >> well, now to a championship. look here we go. >> rory erlich, is this year's kids mullet champion, the soon to be first grader from the philadelphia suburbs, beat out all the kids from all over the country after he won. there were hugs all around. the cool mullet also brought some cold, hard cash. >> how much money did you win?

>> $5,000. and what are you going to do with that money? by my sister and alpaca. and what else? and go to wing night. >> one of the kids he beat in the finals is a young hawaiian known as mr. aloha mullet. rory plans to keep his look. i'm still thinking about getting one, bud. >> it was great on you. >> i'll mull it over next business in the front party in the back. could you live without a kitchen sink? >> i know i couldn't, but somebody's going to have to. especially if they move into this tiny new york city apartment. look at that. a viral tiktok video shows off the studio, which, by the way, a 150ft■!s under that rather, it s a ladder to a sleeping platform and a full sized fridge. but the only sink is in the bathroom. you can live there for $2,500 a month. only well, next, nike's new tribute to the late kobe bryant. it just unveiled a new sneaker. >> the shoe is mostly white with the so-called mamba logo on the tongue. nike says the shoe was created by bryant's widow, vanessa. it's being released

next wednesday, which would have been bryant's 45th birthday. finally a bear decided to come out of the woods and onto a high school football field. >> yeah, check out the visitor that caused practice to be delayed. and gatlinburg pittman high school over in tennessee. they posted this to social media . just another day in the smoky mountains to (psst psst) ahhhh... with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary spraying flonase daily gives you long-lasting,

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building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. >> a stark reminder that these are services for family members. this is a family. we are a community. we must not tolerate this. >> an officer down in san jose. shock there and what police are calling an ambush. now at 5:00, the life-saving actions taken immediately by the officers partner and the condition this morning. mandatory evacuations are in effect in the county. help from the bay heading to the front lines of multiple fires burning out of control this morning. >> present donald trump's calendars filming -- filling up with legal appointments, all while he seeks another term in the white house. cracks can morning. it is thursday, august 17. we have