//The Wire//2300Z December 30, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: MISHAPS CONTINUE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION. WHITE HOUSE SENDS ANOTHER $2.5 BILLION AID PACKAGE TO UKRAINE. EGG SHORTAGES LIKELY IN SEVERAL STATES AS NEW LAWS COME INTO EFFECT.//

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-International Events-

Norway: KLM Flight 1204 from Oslo to Amsterdam suffered an undisclosed catastrophic failure during their flight, diverting to Sandfjord. Upon arrival the aircraft skidded off the runway, reportedly due to a hydraulic failure.

South Korea: Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashed at Muan Airport following a bird strike that forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing. During the landing, the aircraft experienced a runway excursion, skidding off the end of the runway at high speed before colliding with a large concrete barrier housing the localizer for the airport’s Instrument Landing System (ILS). It is this collision that is assessed to have resulted in only 2x survivors, with 179x fatalities reported so far from this accident.

AC: As this bird strike incident would have been completely survivable had the concrete barrier at the end of the runway not been a factor, the families of victims have expressed outrage at such poor airport design. Normally, there are no hard barriers this close to the end of airport runways for obvious reasons. Consequently, investigators will likely focus on whether or not the Runway Safety Area (RSA) was in compliance with Korean standards.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. – The White House has announced plans to send Ukraine another $2,500,000,000 in military aid.

Southeast: The region is bracing for a significant polar vortex scheduled to descend on the area over the next few days. Significantly colder than normal temperatures are expected to impact areas that normally do not experience such cold weather, resulting in locals preparing for freezing conditions before the weather arrives. AC: Anytime significant weather strikes a region that is not used to it, complications occur. Several warm-weather states that don’t prioritize de-icing efforts for roads may experience significant travel and logistical problems. Similarly, residents in locations which normally do not have to be concerned with freezing water pipes may wish to re-assess their risks to freezing temperatures as this weather system develops.

USA: Shortages of eggs have been reported at many grocery store chains as a series of new state laws come into effect in several states banning all eggs that are not cage-free from being sold. Due to the new mandate, prices of eggs have already approached $7 a dozen in many areas, and outright shortages have been reported in other areas.

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Analyst Comments: The decision to implement these new cage-free egg laws goes back several years and spans many states. As is common among state-level leadership that share the same political leanings, the Governors of several states made this a joint priority a few years ago. In short, what happens in California will spread to half-a-dozen other states in rapid succession, as has happened in this case. All of these new egg laws are modeled on California’s Proposition 12 which was passed in 2018.

In Michigan, the state where this decision is likely to affect the market the most, this law was passed in 2019, coming into effect on January 1, 2025. Utah had a similar arrangement a few years ago, with their law likewise coming into effect on January 1st. Some other states had similar timeframes, though the requirements of the laws in particular vary from state to state. Massachusetts, for instance, has a similar law already in effect but contains less-stringent verbiage regarding the specific housing conditions of poultry. Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington are the other states also have placed restrictions on non-cage-free egg production.

Analyst: S2A1

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