//The Wire// 2300Z November 12, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: MORE AIRCRAFT HIT WITH SMALL ARMS FIRE IN HAITI, ALL FURTHER FLIGHTS GROUNDED. INTERNET/CELLULAR OUTAGES OCCUR AROUND THE UNITED STATES.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Haiti: Small arms attacks on commercial aircraft continue. Following the previous Spirit airlines effective Surface-to-Air Fire (SAFIRE) incident that wounded one flight attendant, a JetBlue aircraft that had flown to Port-au-Prince that same day was also later found to have suffered similar combat damage. Upon inspection after arrival in New York, JetBlue Flight 935 was found to have at least one bullet hole in the fuselage of the aircraft. Yesterday afternoon, a third aircraft, flying American Airlines Flight 819 was also found to have small arms damage as well. As ground fire has become light-to-moderate in the vicinity of Port-au-Prince, the FAA has grounded all civilian commercial flights into and out of the country for the next 30 days, in addition to the individual airlines suspending their flights into Haiti for several months. This afternoon the United Nations also suspended all flights into and out of the nation until further notice.

-HomeFront-

USA: Yesterday the FDA issued a recall of roughly 79,200 pounds of Kirkland brand butter sold by Costco. The reason for the recall is not due to any contamination or safety concern, but due to the label not explicitly stating that butter contains milk. AC: As one might expect, the ridiculous nature of this recall (and the FDA’s recommendation to dispose of or return the butter) has served as more of a societal observation than a label error itself.

USA: Various nationwide internet/cellular outages from a variety of carriers have been reported throughout the day. This morning a Verizon outage was reported for many customers throughout the northeastern US. Most of the outage appeared to have impacted FIOS customers along the east coast, who largely reported a total blackout of internet connectivity earlier today. No details were provided by Verizon regarding the origin or cause of the outage. This afternoon, T-Mobile customers reported similar outages out west, with reports of major cellular outages throughout southern Utah. Google Fi and Boost Mobile customers also reported random issues throughout the day.

Kentucky: This afternoon an explosion occurred at a factory in Louisville, resulting in catastrophic damage and the hospitalization of at least 11 employees. An explosion of unknown origin was reported at the Givaudan Sense Colour factory on Payne Street. A one-mile shelter-in-place zone has been established around the facility as many workers remain either missing or potentially trapped in the rubble. 

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Initial analysis of what caused the blast in Kentucky is still ongoing. Explosions at industrial facilities are more common that one might think. However exceptionally catastrophic damage from such a kinetic explosion as this one is rare, especially one at a facility that primarily manufactures additives and coloring dyes for various food products. 

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//