Deadly Plane Crash, Gas Prices Hit Record & One-Sec Controversy - Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Erica Mandy (0:00)

Today is Tuesday, September 8th. We're talking about a deadly cargo plane crash at Miami's airport, and why it's reigniting a debate about what should be at the end of more US runways. Also, how much is the Iran War costing Americans? One estimate puts it at more than $100 billion in energy costs alone. Plus the impact of Hurricane Lowell on Hawaii, how you can get through TSA at the airport without a plane ticket, and why just one second changed the outcome of a college football game this weekend. Those stories and even more news coming up.

Welcome to The NewsWorthy, all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this.

A deadly plane crash is now raising questions about safety measures at airports around the country. An Amazon branded cargo jet overshot the runway yesterday at Miami International Airport then kept going for about 1,300 feet. The Boeing 767 first hit a van carrying a cleaning crew, then broke through a fence and struck an SUV on a road outside the airport. Five people died and five others were hurt. The pilot and co-pilot survived. Investigators are now trying to figure out why the plane did not stop in time. And then there's another question. Could a special runway buffer have made a difference? At least 70 US airports have a system that's basically a bed of crushable concrete that collapses under a plane's weight to help slow it down if it runs off the end of a runway. Miami does not have one. But it does have a 1,000-foot safety area that meets federal requirements. And right now, even experts are disagreeing about whether an extra buffer would have stopped that particular plane. For now, the investigation continues.

This week will mark 25 years after 9-11. Yet, there are some new questions surrounding what officials knew about the air around Ground Zero. New York City is releasing more than 170,000 pages of air quality reports, contamination records and other documents. And the New York Times reports it got an early preview. As the Times says, the documents show health officials were still finding asbestos and other contaminants as much as half a mile from Ground Zero, long after officials said it was safe to return. And in the years since, more people are believed to have died from illnesses related to the attacks than the 3,000 people who died on September 11th. Over the course of the next year, New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani plans to review, redact and publicize many more papers related to 9-11. And many families who lost loved ones on 9-11 are hoping to see more records made public on the federal level as well.

Already, there are newly uncovered records, including a video that families say shows a Saudi national casing the US. Capitol and talking about some kind of a plan two years before the attacks. They also say a sketch in his notebook could show calculations for navigating a plane toward a target on the ground. The families are suing, saying the new evidence supports their claim that the Saudi government supported the 9-11 hijackers. But the Saudi government has denied playing any role in the attacks, and its lawyers dispute the family's interpretation of the new evidence. The Trump administration says it's looking for any other records that could be relevant now. Stay tuned.

The US and Iran are once again escalating their fighting and their threats around the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, the American military says it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran targeted American warships. Iran, meanwhile, is threatening more attacks with new tools, like a ballistic missile it says it designed to get around American defenses. Iranian officials are also threatening what they call economic warfare. They say they plan to set up a new restricted zone in the Persian Gulf, potentially adding even more obstacles for ships traveling near the Strait of Hormuz. And they warn that US energy facilities around the Gulf could be targets for retaliation.

Already, everyday Americans have been paying the price for the Iran War with higher energy prices. In fact, the average gas price around the country has never been this high during this time of year. On Labor Day, the nationwide average price of a regular gallon of gas was $4.14.

That's nearly a dollar higher than last Labor Day and well above the last Labor Day record set back in 2012

Diesel also hit an all-time high of $5.85 a gallon on average. And that matters since diesel powers a huge part of the trucking and freight industry. So higher diesel prices can drive up the cost of shipping and eventually the price you pay for all kinds of items. Overall, a Brown University tracker shows the higher gas and diesel prices since the war began have cost the average US household more than $760, adding up to more than $100 billion overall. So will prices come back down? Energy Secretary Chris Wright says there are signs relief is on the way. He says gasoline demand typically drops after Labor Day, while production is expected to pick up. But of course, there's still a lot of uncertainty around the war, including how much oil is actually getting out of the Middle East.