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this is wjz tv, wjz hd, and wjz.com, baltimore. >> from the city to the counties to your neighborhood, now it's complete coverage. it's wjz, maryland's news station. crisis averted. three planes at a washington, d.c. airport come within seconds of each other. >> they weren't clear what happened. >> standby. >> the mistake that brought those busy flights too close for comfort. hello, everyone. here's what people are talking about tonight. a miscommunication nearly puts three passenger planes on a collision course. now officials are demanding answers about how that happened. we investigate the near-disaster. >> reporter: an alarming miscommunication at reagan

national aport. sources say they allowed two regional jets to launch as another plane was coming in to land and there wasn't enough space between them all. >> we weren't clear what happened back there. >> standby. >> that miscommunication should not have happened. >> reporter: but it did happen tuesday afternoon when a storm caused a shift in the wind and controllers were changing the direction of all take offs and landings. the first jet to take off and the incoming plane were 12 seconds apart. >> where was the break down in procedure? we have to understand where it was so we can make sure it doesn't happen again. >> reporter: according to the faa, operational errors are growing. # 1234 in 2009. and congress general accounting office says serious airborne errors tripled in the last three

years nationwide. wjz first investigated the problem in 2007 after two planes missed each other on intersecting runways by just 400 feet. even then, a captain told us the problem was growing worse. >> as traffic has increased, we're seeing more and more of these incursions taking place. >> reporter: in this latest case, the faa says while the planes were close, they were not going to crash. >> we are interviewing the people involved. we will get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: the national transportation safety board has also investigated several other recent close calls here. at reagan national airport for wjz eyewitness news. >> the jets all have collision avoidance system. the cemetery refused to say what would have happened if the planes had not been diverted. a packed bus slams into a come crete support in st. louis. 81 people were on board the bus when it swerved into the median

and crashed into the filler. 38 of them were rushed to the hospital. investigators believe the bus may have blown a tire. federal help is on the way for parts of maryland still recovering from the storm. hurricane-force winds and driving rain left the state a complete mess when the freak storm hit in june. today president obama signed a declaration authorizing disaster assistance. the federal government will help pay for repairs. maryland, a battleground state in the fight over same-sex marriage. the race is on to win voters before the issue goes to ballot in november. we have the new poll that may suggest a change in public opinion. >> reporter: supporters of same-sex marriage say the tide is turning in their direction and a new poll suggests they may be gaining ground. the count down to the show down over same-sex marriage has started. >> we're also trying to build an

army of supporters. >> reporter: a new poll shows that 54% now support same-sex marriage with 40% opposed. >> people know they have friends, neighbors, family members, co-workers who just want to have the same opportunities to say i do that everybody else does. >> reporter: political analysts warn polls may not be a good indicator. >> sometimes people think it's socially correct or politically correct to indicate they support gay marriage and then when the vote comes, they might vote against it. >> reporter: it's a hot button issue after the president of chick-fil-a spoke out against it. >> the people who were there showed they'll be there at the polls in november. >> reporter: eric wolf waited here. he hopes maryland votes down same-sex marriage. >> i hope it stands for traditional marriage. i think the family should be

more sustained and supporters. >> reporter: supporters say now is the time. >> we're working to make sure that everybody understands what this law is about. >> reporter: both sides promising a race to the finish in november. supporters are >> same-sex marriage has been voted down in every other state where it's been put on the ballot. a university of colorado psychiatrist was worried about james holmes and her warnings went ignored. he had concerned before he dropped out in june. she told the school's threat assessment team but no action was taken. the shooting in colorado was on the minds when a man stormed

into a children's movie and pretended to have a gun. people were so frightened they ran out of the theater or hid under the seats. >> reporter: wednesday afternoon, parents and kids pack into the bowtie cinemas for a showing of madagascar 3. police say 25-year-old kyle tanner began yelling and pointing at the audience like he was holding a gun. >> he came down the aisle and he was like that. >> reporter: she got a frantic call from her 12-year-old son who was watching a movie with his friend. >> he said someone has a gun and he's in the theater. >> reporter: he didn't have a weapon, but witnesses couldn't tell. >> they thought he had a gun. they went underneath their seats. his friend looked up and said let's get out of here. >> there were people unsure if he had a weapon and that's why they fled. >> reporter: several movie goers ran out and called police.

officers arrested tanner a short distance away from the plaza. >> we understand how that can cozeningst or fear to folks inside of the movie theater. >> reporter: the horrific events in colorado were fresh in the mind. >> he's thinking someone has a gun, he's going to kill everybody. >> reporter: they don't know tanner's motives, but he's now facing a list of charges. >> he should. it's not right in this day in age for that type of thing to go. >> reporter: he's facing several charges including wreckless endangerment and second degree assault. >> the state's attorney's office is still reviewing the charges but no additional charges are expected. another sink hole ups up right in the middle of a baltimore city street. a 16-inch water main burst. tonight, the damage has been repaired. this is the latest in a long list of recent problems with the

city's infrastructure. michael phelps continues to add to his unparalleled olympic legacy. we are joined now with the latest on phelps' growing record number of medals. >> he rules the pool like no one in history. his triumph comes at the expense of his rival. phelps the is up to the challenge. no one in history has won has many medals as the auqa man. >> reporter: one without much drama as he led from start to finish. having already received congratulations from the president, phelps showed he's the king of the pool. he adds to his career record with 20 olympic medals, 16 gold. today's race he finished ahead of ryan lochte.

this is his first individual gold medal in the london games. >> and after his victory, phelps was right back in the pool to swim the fastest time in the 100-meter butterfly. he's the favorite to win that tomorrow. >> phelps final olympic race will be as a member of the u.s. relay team on saturday. hundreds of rare baseball cards go up for auction in baltimore. collectors pay half a million dollars for the best cards of the bunch. we have more on their bidding war. >> reporter: that's right. a group of cousins will split the money, money that hasn't stopped flowing yet. one of the biggest finds in sports memorabilia history is up for auction in baltimore. rare baseball cards from the early 1900's inside the warehouse of camden yards. they're called a black swamp

find. >> $240,000. >> reporter: when the live and online bidding was over, three groups of cards sold for a whopping $365,000. >> very excited and blessed that we were able to all share with this big find. >> reporter: the valuable cards were found in february in the attic of this house in defiance, ohio. he discovered 700 baseball cards more than 100 years old that belonged to his late grandfather. >> this is a grandfather i never knew. and through this house, we were able to uncover so many things about my grandfather. >> reporter: a collection that included the rare and highly prized honis wagner card. they're worth $3 million. the half million that the ohio family made from the auction is big money, and there are still many more cards to sell. >> is average is condition is 7, 8, and 9 which is unbelievable. >> reporter: there are another 400 cards that will be sold over

a period of three years. the family is not trying to rush this at all. 20 family members will split this money. they each expect to get about $1,500,000. >> i'm looking forward to coming back and visiting the cards when you hang them in your office. heritage auctions conducted tonight's event. coming up, gone in a flash. cameras capture a man swallowed by a sink hole. how a frightening stash of weapons ended up on a subway train. a great white shark attack on the east coast and the odds of getting bitten in ocean city. that story as eyewitness news continues. a rather hot and humid start to the weekend. i'll have the complete forecast coming up next.

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it is clear, 78 degrees in central maryland right now. the complete forecast is coming up. a powerful typhoon makes land fall in taiwan. the damage includes this dramatic road collapse. shows the ground giving out while a man was walking down the road. he did not survive that fall. the government says five people were killed as the storm touched

off numerous landslides. 1500 people have been forced to evacuate. in missouri, a large condominium complex goes up in flames. 160 units were damaged. investigators believe a barbecue grill left on a balcony started the fire and spread to three other buildings. crews worked throughout the night putting out hot spots. everyone inside were safely evacuated. a man is arrested for bringing an ak-47 rifle and several other weapons on board. the assault rifle had 40 rounds of ammunition in it and the suspect had a revolver and a knife. the officerrers approached the suspect in the middle of the crowded car. >> i can't imagine what was going through his head, what kind of scenario he could have been thinking. >> we knew we had to take action immediately. >> police say he told him he was just going home. he has a history of weapon's

charges. close call for a surfer in australia after a shark bites him. this attack is similar to one in cape cod. while attacks are rare on the east coast, it's not uncommon to see a variety of sharks along maryland beaches. >> reporter: the bite marks went to the bone, but the man still managed to make it to shore in cape cod. >> he stated it was a shark that attacked his leg. >> reporter: and not just any shark. evidence points to a great white. a number of great whites have been seen because their favorite food is here -- a massive congregation of great seals. there is also the way the attack appears to have happened. shark expert says whites have a unique way of hunting. >> the white shark will come up

from the bottom and strike their prey. he bit him and let him go. >> this guy is extremely lucky and probably should go and buy a a lottery ticket. he dodged a bullet on this one. >> reporter: the last great white attack in new england was 1936 and it was fatal. in ocean city, great whites are not a concern because maryland sees few seals. but there are still plenty of other types of sharks. >> there are sharks offshore. there's never been a reported case of unprovoked shark attack. >> even though they're there? >> yes. the chance of being attacked by a shark is less than getting struck by lightning. >> the swimmer bitten this massachusets is expected to make a full recovery. champions will be coming home to cheers and an extra bill from the irs. the athletes will have to pay taxes on money awarded to them by the u.s. olympic committee

and the value of their medals. a senate bill has been introduced to exclude olympians from that tax. >> that's some law. going over there and winning for the united states and having to pay taxes on your winnings, that doesn't make sense. let's look at temperatures and conditions. a a little warm, a little humid. 78, no wind at all. if you had rain, you'll see a little fog overnight. you see the dew point is way up, 74 degrees. the dew point will be high again tomorrow. it's going to be a little bit warmer than it was today. only 65 in oakland. 83 in d.c. 78 in ocean city. a rather warm night. a beautiful moon out there, by the way. as far as clouds, they pretty

much dispated. the showers earlier came up through the d.c. area straight through the city and died out. a few more also on the eastern shore. you see very light winds. that will keep us in the warm and humid air. it's been extremely hot out here. we're talking low to mid-90s rather than upper 80s and low 90s. right now to the west of us, an area of showers and storms entering indiana. that will head to our south. the sun comes out in the morning, things begin to cloud up in the afternoon. cooler, yes, and drier to the north of us. we won't see too much of that until early next week. stays on the hot and humid side all weekend long and then a bit of a drop next week. all right, back to the tropics. ernesto at 11:00.

right now it's about 80 miles east of barbados. not super strong. they'll get wind and rain. it's heading to the west at 22 miles an hour. that's really booking for a storm. heading out to the west, you see the cancun area. all the models have it far to the south, some of them having it going into central america and missing the gulf completely. south winds on the bay here, 5-10 knots. the bay temperature 82. overnight tonight, fair, humid, 72. tomorrow, back up in the low 90s. let's call it 93. the same forecast for the next five days, but cooler. 94 on saturday.

dropping to 90, 88, 89 for monday and tuesday. the ravens from one week away from their first pre-season game. we have the latest from today's practice next in sports. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

mark is here now with our sports report. >> the ravens are working in august. the orioles had a day off. we'll start with football. making progress toward atlanta. it's one week from tonight. ravens training camp has had its challenges. injuries have kept people from practicing. after several days in the afternoon heat, the coach moved the guys inside for a one-day respite. joe flacco has been working with a makeshift offensive line while

mckenne y is out. offensive coordinator cam cameron says his qb pushes full speed despite not having his full squad. >> and he comes in, he expects to execute and he expects other guys to execute. i think that expectation helps us. we're not real big on excuses or any of that stuff. we go with the guys we got. we have a job to get done and we'll find a way no matter who's out there. i really believe that. >> dennis watched from the sideline. his surgically repaired right hand in a cast. he's going to miss the rest of training camp but hopes to be back in time for the season opener september 10th against cincinnati. in baseball, the orioles did rest today after 20 games in 20 days. it's their first day off since the all-star break. they'll continue their road trip in tampa bay tomorrow night. the os and rays tied with identical records. it's masn this weekend.

you can see them saturday night and sunday afternoon. the os trying to earn a play off spot for the first time in 15 years. down the road in d.c., the washington nationals are on their way toward a first-ever post-season first doing it with pitching and defense in their win over the phillies tonight. bryce harper doing the job on defense. they get john mayberry at the plate. it's a shut out in the nation's capitol. first place washington has allowed the fewest runs in the majors this season. tracking tiger woods on the pga tour. akron, ohio, he's won several times but he's way behind. woods missed several puts. seven shots behind the leader. woods is tied for 31st. os back in action tomorrow. >> thanks a,,,,

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her name is sara and she lives in cincinnati. she puts all the sprinters to shame. her time is 4 seconds faster than world-record holder. the 11-year-old cheetah broke a record with 61 miles an hour. that gives her the title of world's fastest land mammal. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] safeway presents

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