is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight, lester holt. good evening and thanks for being with us. one was loaded with passengers and flying into the teeth of a snowstorm and nearly into icy waters. the other flown by a world famous movie star who nearly crashed into a row of homes. two plane accidents, both skirting the edge of disaster and still getting a lot of attention tonight for all the questions they raise about our safety. we'll get to the harrison ford crash in a moment, but we begin with new information about that delta airlines plane that slid off the runway at new york's laguardia airport yesterday. and there is new focus on the airport itself and whether it was safe to fly at the time. tom costello remains on that story for us tonight. >> reporter: inside a hangar at laguardia airport today the delta air lines jet that went off runway 13 in a snowstorm yesterday morning. its nose ripped off, the left fuel tank ruptured. overnight port authority crews used cranes to move the plane. by mid-morning the runway had reopened for traffic. also today further evidence the pilots thought they were in for a routine landing as they checked in with the tower, which reported two previous planes had just landed without a problem. >> and delta 1086 laguardia tower runway 13 cleared to land. an airbus and regional jet. did the thrust reversers play a role as the plane suddenly careened through a fence stopping just inches from the water. it's up to each airport to decide when to close runways due to weather. on thursday laguardia's airport manager car 100 was on the ramp supervising snowplow operations. he's the one who closed the airport after the crash. tower you copy. car 100. runway 13 is closed. >> reporter: today, my plane came in over that same ice-filled flushing bay. the city right on the water laguardia's shorter runways mean pilots must be at their best when they come in for a landing, especially if that water is splashing on to an icy runway. >> being about 7,000 feet long on both runways is a place you want to put the airplane on the ground very definitely, firmly. >> reporter: sitting in a window seat watching the crash unfold before her eyes, passenger jamie primuk sullivan. >> and then i saw the rocks. and then i saw the water. and it's at that moment that your mind goes what happens if you go into the water. do planes sink? do they float? will i ever see my kids again? >> reporter: tonight, the ntsb tells nbc news it has successfully downloaded the data from the cockpit voice and data flight data recorders and they have good data for the entire duration of the flight. they're hoping to talk to the pilots some time over the weekend at delta headquarters in atlanta. meanwhile, delta says it is now refunding the passengers the entire fare from their airline trip. lester. >> tom costello in new york tonight, thanks. now to that other flight gone terribly wrong. the small plane crash with legendary actor harrison ford at the controls. ford is expected to make a full recovery while investigators look for the reason his plane went down. here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: today ntsb investigators trying to determine why this vintage world war ii plane plummeted out of the sky. >> i hope he's going to make it. >> losing altitude moments after takeoff, harrison ford had to act quickly. >> 53178 engine failure, immediate return. >> ryan 178 runway 21 clear to land. >> reporter: cell phones capturing the harrowing moments as ford goes down fast. the single engine plane clipped a tree, sliding onto a golf course next to the santa monica airport. golfers scrambled to pull ford from the wreckage. among them a spinal surgeon. >> he was wiggling about, he appeared to be conscious and there was fuel leaking. >> reporter: this was the route ford was flying departing runway 21 on a clear day then banking 180 degrees when he reported engine failure. ford was piloting from the rear seat. >> any time that a human being can survive an accident involving an airplane or any type of mechanical it's a good day. >> reporter: ford is a veteran pilot who's flown relief missions to haiti and once helped rescue a boy scout lost in yellowstone. the actor even joked about a 1999 crash-landing. >> what happened to your helicopter? >> it broke. >> this is the real "indiana jones". >> i broke it. >> this is what you see every day, huhs? >> this is what i hear every day. >> reporter: just across the street from thursday's crash carlos gomez says he's lucky ford is a skilled pilot who avoided homes and may have saved lives. >> certainly what solved the situation so that only his life was at risk and not others. >> reporter: with family members saying ford had minor surgery for broken bones, he was brought here to ronald reagan ucla medical center where he was listed in fair to moderate condition. lester. >> all right, miguel, thank you. more encouraging news on the american economy today. we learned employers added 295,000 jobs in february. that makes 12 consecutive months of at least 200,000 jobs added. the first time that's happened since 1977. the unemployment rate dropped to 5.5%, that's the lowest since may of 2008. a troubling area of concern though remains hourly wages, which continue to stagnate. and a tough day on wall street, investors figuring that an improving jobs market proves -- means an interest rate hike could come sooner rather than later. attorney general eric holder said the justice department would use its full authority to reform the ferguson, missouri police department which could even mean dismantling it entirely. this after a blistering report alleged a pattern of racial bias among ferguson's authorities. so far two officials have resigned in the wake of that report. a third was fired. but as ron allen reports the problems may extend far beyond ferguson. >> reporter: now backed by the findings of a scathing federal investigation renewed demands for a complete overhaul of ferguson's police force. >> who killed mike brown! >> reporter: ferguson now among more than 20 police departments the obama administration has investigated for allegedly racist practices. from albuquerque to cleveland to newark, most agree to legally binding reform plans, consent decrees. but the justice department has sued at least four jurisdictions thats have resisted. analysts say constant oversight is essential. >> where the government has simply entered into an agreement and then basically walked away, i think we've seen that doesn't work. >> reporter: but even in cities like new orleans, nearly three years under a consent decree critics say police still use excessive force, making illegal stops, searches and other misconduct. >> with more people watching, you know, i could only hope that it's going to get better. but i'm still skeptical. because the problems have been here for a very, very long time. >> reporter: ferguson, population just over 20,000, is one of the smallest towns doj has investigated. and here with both the police and the courts under scrutiny, many worry about the town's future. ryan fletcher is a former mayor. what does it mean for this town to have this hanging over it now? >> well, it means economic development slows down. it might cause some residents to relocate out of ferguson. >> the united states state department of justice reserves all of its rights and abilities to force compliance. >> reporter: leaders say they'll cooperate but have not yet signed a legally binding agreement. while calls for change echo on the streets. ron allen, nbc news, ferguson. a federal grand jury could bring charges against a prominent senate democrat later this month according to sources familiar with the case. new jersey senator bob menendez is the subject of a corruption investigation after jet trips he took on a private plane of a florida eye doctor. federal prosecutors want to know whether menendez exchanged political favors in return. both the senator and doctor deny any wrongdoing. at the start of this newscast we told you about two very close calls involving airplanes. already we know a lot more about what happened to those planes than what happened to malaysia airlines flight 370 which almost exactly a year ago vanished, cloaked in mystery and suspicion. and while searchers hold out hope the plane will be found, for the families of the missing they're only memories and unanswered questions. >> i still remember just grabbing his hand saying be safe, see you later. and give him a hug. it's burned in my mind. >> reporter: james wood recalling the last time he saw his big brother philip. it was just a week before philip and 238 others boarded malaysia flight 370 from kuala lumpur to beijing. a flight that was initially reported as overdue. at that point i'm just imagining here that you're thinking this is going to be bad news and we're going to get confirmation pretty soon. >> something, yeah. yeah. or either messed up, turned around, lost track of it. >> reporter: the plane didn't crash somewhere along it's planned route. instead it appeared it was flown into oblivion. that was the last message from mh370, 41 minutes into the flight, the mystery began. >> but now i'm going to turn to the left. >> reporter: in a 777 simulator we duplicated the sharp left turn that came next sending mh370 on a mystifying journey, ultimately towards the indian ocean. is there anything that would make this plane make that kind of turn absent a human either pushing buttons on this computer or dialing in the autopilot? >> no. no. >> reporter: adding to the intrigue, the plane's transponder and other communications systems were disabled. >> it's really what's been described as the hook turn. that's where this event really started to develop from a normal routine flight to what has been deemed either an accident or an intentional act. >> reporter: early focus turned to the captain. authorities wondered if he was using his home flight simulator to practice the vanishing act. a friend tells nbc news he doesn't buy it. >> he would be the one trying to save the plane. >> reporter: while there are still only theories as to what happened onboard the plane, search vessels may be on track to finding it. after crunching satellite signals and aircraft performance data, experts believe it crashed within a 23,000 square mile arc along the south indian ocean. >> this is where a very high degree of certainty but not absolute certainty we know that the aircraft is going to be. >> reporter: in the meantime absent the discovery of any wreckage, james wood has not let his brother go. just tell me about your brother. the kind of guy he is. >> he's -- he was, he is, kind, generous. >> you're obviously struggling with present tense, past tense. where are you on this? >> both. logically i say past tense. but my heart still says present tense. >> the painful wait goes on for the families. in january malaysian authorities declared it an accident and declared the passengers and crew dead but offered no positive proof. meantime australian officials expect to end their current search operation in may. a busy night of news still ahead including our nbc news investigation. it's about a growing number of family doctors, gynecologists, even dentists performing certain cosmetic procedures with limited training. and patients may find out the hard way. and later the youngest person to stand and march with dr. king in selma returns tonight with a powerful message. we're back now with an nbc news investigation. with growing demand for cosmetic procedures in this country, more and more doctors, even dentists, are learning how to do them. but the concern here is they may not be getting enough training to do them safely. and patients may not know. we get more on this tonight from our senior investigative correspondent cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: 57-year-old stephanie goelzer was a new grandmother. like a lot of women she decided to get a little botox. she went to the silhouette med spa in livermore, california. >> i wanted to just spruce up a little bit. >> reporter: while she was there the staff encouraged her to try other services as well. >> i did have a little spot in -- on my cheek. >> reporter: a little teeny red bump. >> yeah, it was pretty small. >> reporter: dr. tam nguyen is one of the owners of the spa. sugg he said he could fix the spot and get rid of two veins on her temple. >> he said i'll do all three for $200. >> reporter: what she didn't understand was that dr. nguyen is a family practice doctor, not a licensed dermatologist or plastic surgeon. he's one of an increasing number of family practitioners, gynecologists, even dentists taking weekend courses similar to this one to expand their practices to include cosmetic procedures. why? some say it's about the money. >> you can triple your revenue per patient per year. >> reporter: but sometimes according to dermatologists a handful of weekend courses just isn't enough. this is what stephanie's face looked like ten days after the procedure. >> it was a traumatic experience. >> reporter: your face was a mess. >> yeah, for three weeks i didn't leave the house. >> reporter: dr. nguyen's office agreed to refer her to a dermatologist, dr. jerome. he examined stephanie and says dr. nguyen should never have injected her face with the chemical he used. >> this procedure is called sclero therapy. it's used mostly for leg bands. >> reporter: he says the side effects for injecting the face with this chemical can be severe, including even blindness. >> this requires to be done by the experts of the experts. >> reporter: and that wasn't dr. nguyen. dr. nguyen told us he'd been to six workshops or conferences that ran from two to four days long and participated in two other one-day laser courses. >> be careful with that prescription. >> reporter: he agreed to meet with us at his spa. so what happened? what went wrong? >> so my best estimate is that agent got outside of the lesion. >> reporter: it seems to me it would be clearly a mistake. >> not necessarily just because bruising has occurred doesn't mean that it's a mistake. >> reporter: so you stand behind the work? >> i do standby that. >> reporter: and you think that the seminars that you've attended provide enough training to be able to do these really tricky procedures on people's faces? >> so it's the same training that even dermatologists get after they graduate. >> reporter: that's misleading, says this doctor. after graduating from medical school dermatologists have three years of intense training to treat the skin. >> you don't learn this in a weekend. >> reporter: as for stephanie goelzer, the scar on her face is almost gone. but the emotional scars she says remain. >> don't do what i did. be smart. do your homework. check out exactly what's being shot into your face. >> reporter: and who is doing it. now, dr. nguyen told me he's not doing it for the money but rather to help people and that the dermatologists are just upset that he and others like him are taking patients away from their business. now, the bottom line dr. nguyen is doing nothing illegal. but critics say he is misleading patients and putting them at risk. >> it's important. thank you very much, cynthia mcfadden. we're back in a moment with isis declaring war on history. seems these images may have only been the beginning. isis has sparked new outrage tonight with reports that it's systematically demolishing a priceless archaeological site. just last week we saw heartbreaking images of militants destroying irreplaceable artifacts in size occupied mosul. today's report says isis is bulldozing the ancient city of nip rud in northern iraq. these are file pictures. no video has surfaced. a top u.n. official called it a war crime, the deliberate destruction of humanity's cultural heritage. >> the legendary filmmaker albert maysles has died. films include rolling stones and give me shelter. beatles in 1964 arrival in america, behind the scenes and edith bouvier. and her daughter cousins of jacqueline kennedy in gray gardens. with his late brother, he focused on life as it happened and captured it on film. albert maysles was 88. when we come back, 50 years since the turning point in one of our country's greatest struggles. this weekend, the first family will travel to selma, alabama to mark 50 years since a monumental moment in the civil rights struggle. that day in 1965 while stunning in the violence inflicted on peaceful protesters, galvanized a movement. tonight, our kristen welker brings us the story of that march on selma as seen through the youngest eyes there that day. >> reporter: a painful past is coming back to life in selma today as people arrive from all across the country to remember what happened on this bridge 50 years ago. march 7th, 1965, bloody sunday. a group of activists risked their lives for freedom, equality and the right to be treated fairly. sheyann webb christburg was the youngest person there. she was just 8. >> rassism just unleash ood its brutality upon us. people had begun to be beaten down with billy clubs as if they weren't even human beings. tear gas had begun to burst in the air, and people had begun to run for their lives. i was running. trying to make my way back. >> reporter: she made it home that day, and two weeks later the marchers made it all the way to the capitol, montgomery, a 54-mile trek, a turning point in american history. >> how long? not long. >> reporter: and the man who inspired the movement also shared this moment with little sheyann. >> why are you marching? >> so we can be free and so all the people will be free and so troopers can't hit no one. >> can't help but to reflect and remember that moment being with such an extraordinary man. >> reporter: other activists now in their 60s, 70s and older say the march continues because of incidents like ferguson and the supreme court's recent altering of the voting rights act, undoing the crux of what they fought for. >> we have got to stay focused and move forward and show up to the voting polls. >> reporter: for sheyann it's about teaching the next generation about the people who paved the way for them, one person, one step at a time kristen welker, nbc news, selma, alabama. >> a day not to be forgotten and a reminder nbc news will have complete coverage of the commemoration in selma tomorrow. that's going to do it for us this friday night. i'm lester holt. thank you so much for joining us. remember to spring forward and move your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed saturday night. have a good night and a good weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . breaking news this convicted sex offender is on the run. a live view from over the scene where police have been searching all afternoon in this area. thank you for joining us. i'm janelle wang. >> and i'm raj mathai. a lot of parts here. this started at san jose valley medical center. the inmate getting medical treatment made a bold escape. at this hour the surrounding neighborhood and a local day care are flooded with police officers. here's where it's happening, valley med at the intersection of a busy part of town especially right now during rush hour. the 280/880 interchange very close to san jose city college. peggy bunker is on the scene with the very latest. peggy? >> reporter: raj, you can imagine how busy it is here. this is a 40-year-old inmate. this is still an active scene from the air. however, here on the ground the streets have opened up. it all started earlier today when during or right after medical treatment, this inmate janelle carter got into a fight with a deputy and injured him in the shoulder. then the inmate ran out of the hospital. sheriff's deputies were not able to apprehend him. thus they are going door to door, yard to yard. this parti