By JOSH FUNK

Passengers who weren’t buckled aboard a Delta Air Lines flight to Europe would have been violently thrown into the ceiling and back down to the floor in July when the plane encountered severe turbulence in a thunderstorm over Wyoming, according to a new report on the incident.

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The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that passengers endured 2.5 minutes of turbulence that caught the pilots by surprise on July 30 even though they had already altered their route to try to avoid the storms. The seat belt sign was off so passengers, flight attendants and drink carts were thrown around the plane.

The flight took off from Salt Lake City and was bound for Amsterdam, but it diverted to Minneapolis, where 24 people were evaluated by paramedics and 18 were taken to hospitals. Two crew members sustained serious injuries and five sustained minor injuries.

The preliminary report described how passengers were thrown upwards with a force equal to three-quarters of their body weight that the NTSB estimated at 1.75 g. Then they were pulled downward by a force equal to half their body weight.

“That’s a lot of force. That’s like a muscle man grabbing you by the shoulders and with all of his strength trying to pull you up,” said aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for the NTSB and FAA. “If you’re standing and you experience those types of forces, you’re going to be thrown upward into the ceiling and then back down again onto the floor with a lot of force.”

Guzzetti said that enduring turbulence that lasted that long would seem like “an eternity” for the passengers feeling those forces. The NTSB also said the plane’s wing dipped down as much as 40 degrees at one point, and Guzzetti said that would have alarmed passengers.

That fits with what passengers described afterward.

“They hit the ceiling, and then they fell to the ground,” Leann Clement-Nash told ABC News. “And the carts also hit the ceiling and fell to the ground and people were injured. It happened several times, so it was really scary.”

The report said that the pilot had turned off the seatbelt sign and flight attendants had begun drink service shortly before the plane encountered the turbulence.

The pilots likely believed they were in the clear after asking air traffic controllers to route them around the storms. But the NTSB charted the plane’s flight path over a radar report from the National Weather Service that showed the plane flew directly into a bright red section of the map showing the worst of the storm.

Guzzetti said the NTSB will investigate whether the pilots and crew did enough to avoid the storms and whether the pilot made a good judgement in turning off the seatbelt sign.

Serious injuries from in-flight turbulence are rare, but scientists say they may be becoming more common as climate change alters the jet stream.

Several turbulence incidents have been reported this year, which only added to the concerns about aviation safety after the worst aviation disaster in years. In January, a midair collision over Washington, D.C., killed 67 people. A plane also flipped over as it crashed in Toronto in March.

By RUSS BYNUM and KATE BRUMBACK

POOLER, Ga. (AP) — After more than 300 South Korean workers were taken into custody during a raid on an electric battery plant in Georgia, the country’s foreign minister traveled to the U.S. this week in hopes of bringing them home.

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Law enforcement agents detained some 475 workers during the raid Thursday at the battery factory under construction on the campus of Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Seoul and Washington were discussing details for the workers’ return.

Here are some things to know about the raid and its aftermath.

What efforts have been made to get the South Koreans home?

Korean Air says a Boeing 747-8i will fly from South Korea to Atlanta as early as Wednesday to bring the workers home. Asked about the flight and about Foreign Minister Cho Hyun’s visit to the U.S., the Korean embassy said it is staying in close contact with U.S. authorities and that its priority is “the safety of our citizens.”

The South Korean workers were being held at an immigration detention center in Folkston, in southeast Georgia, near the state line with Florida. It’s a 285-mile (460-kilometer) drive from there to Atlanta.

South Korean television stations showed Cho Ki-joong, consul general at the Korean Embassy in Washington, speaking outside the detention center. He said some administrative steps remained to be completed but that things were going smoothly. The South Korean Foreign Ministry declined to comment on media reports that he and other diplomats met with detained workers.

What are the immigration consequences for the workers?

U.S. authorities have said that those detained during the raid were “unlawfully working” at the plant. But Charles Kuck, a lawyer representing several of the detained South Koreans, said the “vast majority” of the workers from South Korea were doing work that is authorized under the B-1 business visitor visa program.

A B-1 visitor for business visa allows foreign workers to stay for up to six months, getting reimbursed for expenses while collecting a paycheck back home. There are limits — for example, they can supervise construction projects but can’t build anything themselves — but if it’s spelled out in a contract, they can install equipment, Los Angeles immigration lawyer Angelo Paparelli said.

FILE – Euisun Chung, Executive Chair, Hyundai Motor Company, left, stands with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp as Chung signs an IONIQ 9 EV vehicle during a media tour and grand opening at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, March 26, 2025, in Ellabell, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Also, South Korea is one of 41 countries whose citizens can use the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which provides a visa waiver if they can provide “a legitimate reason’’ for their visit, and this basically gives them B-1 visa status for up to 90 days, said immigration attorney Rita Sostrin in Los Angeles.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry has said that officials from Seoul and Washington are discussing details that could allow all of that country’s detained workers to leave the U.S. voluntarily instead of being deported. A deportation order could make someone ineligible to return to the U.S. for up to 10 years, while people who agree to “voluntary departure” may be able to apply for a visa to return to the U.S., according to a guide on the Justice Department’s website.

What effect has the raid had on the area around the plant?

In Pooler, a suburb of Savannah, the sprawling Hyundai electric vehicle plant has triggered noticeable growth.

Signs in shopping center parking lots point to homes for sale in new subdivisions nearby. Construction crews work on multistory apartment buildings while finished apartments in the same complex display large banners proclaiming they’re ready for new residents.

Meanwhile, a growing number of Korean restaurants and Asian grocery stores have found a home among standard American fast-food franchises and chain eateries like Starbucks and Cracker Barrel.

Ruby Gould, president of the Korean American Association of Greater Savannah, said there’s no question that last week’s raid has raised anxiety among the area’s Korean immigrants.

“People are very upset about the incident, the arrest of the workers,” Gould said. “I’m sure there are some people in fear about this visa situation after they witnessed what’s happened.”

The U.S. Census Bureau says Pooler’s population jumped to 31,171 last year, an increase of 21% since 2020. That period includes the groundbreaking and construction of Hyundai’s EV factory.

People of Asian origin made up just 6% of the suburban city’s residents in 2020. While newer demographic data isn’t available, people in the area say Korean-Americans and South Korean immigrants make up a sizable share of recent newcomers.

Pastor Robin Kim and his wife closed last month on a new home in Pooler, where Kim is starting his own church. He left the Army a few months ago after serving as a chaplain to soldiers at nearby Fort Stewart. Kim said they wanted to be a part of the Savannah suburb’s growing Korean community.

Kim, 51, has sought to calm some of the anger and anxiety in the community since last week’s raid. He noticed fewer Korean people out shopping over the weekend, and reads a constant stream of messages posted in a chat group of 1,900 local Korean residents.

“The people feel like they’re being watched, like they’re being judged by the American people,” Kim said. “They are scared right now. They don’t want to be trouble.”

He said some are resentful at the U.S. government considering the billions of dollars Hyundai has invested in the Georgia plant and the thousands of U.S. jobs it’s creating. Others worry the immigration arrests will mean increased scrutiny that hinders their own efforts to extend visas or obtain green cards.

A suggestion that local Korean residents stage a protest, Kim said, was quickly stifled by others who cautioned against drawing attention.

“They’re trying to keep a low profile right now,” he said, “to not go out much and stay home.”

For his part, Kim hopes the raid doesn’t have lasting impacts.

“I hope the Korean community keeps thriving here,” he said, “and we get over this incident real soon.”

Brumback reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul, Didi Tang and Paul Wiseman in Washington.

A body believed to be a Minnesota kayaker who disappeared at Jackson Lake in western Wyoming more than a year ago has been found by a recovery team.

Wesley Dopkins, 43, of St. Paul, was last seen paddling on the lake on June 15, 2024, according to Grand Teton National Park officials.

His foldable kayak, paddle and dry bag were found floating on the lake’s east side soon after he disappeared. A search using a helicopter, boats, ground teams and dogs did not find him at that time, park officials said Tuesday in a statement.
A nonprofit search and recovery organization found the body Sunday and recovered it Monday from a depth of about 420 feet.

Official identification by the Teton County Coroner’s Office was still pending, but “characteristics of the remains” and where they were found suggested they were Dopkins’, according to the statement.

Dopkins was not wearing a life jacket when he was seen paddling from Elk Island to Waterfalls Canyon on the west shore. What happened to him is still unknown, but hypothermia is a common hazard in chilly Wyoming waters.

Jackson Lake is a large reservoir on the Snake River at the foot of the Teton Range in Grand Teton National Park.

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By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have discovered a gamma ray explosion outside our galaxy that’s not only exceptionally powerful, but also long-lasting.

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Telescopes on Earth and in space — including Hubble — have teamed up to study the unique explosion of high-energy radiation first observed in July. Astronomers reported Tuesday it’s unlike anything they’ve witnessed before.

The repeated bursts of gamma rays were detected over the course of a day, according to scientists. That’s highly unusual since these kinds of bursts normally last just minutes or even milliseconds — rarely no more than a few hours — as dying stars collapse or are torn apart by black holes.

Scientists said such a long and recurrent gamma ray explosion is puzzling — a cosmic whodunit, at least for now. More observations are needed to confirm its precise whereabouts.

The European-led team announced its findings in the Astrophysical Journal Letters in August.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.