How was the plane able to get so close to the capitol. This entire area is supposed to be a no fly zone. We dont have an answer to. That Capitol Police are not planning on holding a press conference today. They will probably put out more information but we dont know many details on how the plane was able to get so close to the capitol. Im Allison Barber wusa 9. A lot of people will be asking about that. Garrett hake has been investigating this. We have doug hughes, he told his local newspaper that he first came up with this idea two and a half years ago after his sons suicide. About a year ago he started to get more serious and he got a visit from the u. S. Secret service asking him how serious he really was. There was no apparent follow up. Then late last week, or two weeks ago he sat down with the Tampa Bay Times to layout all of his planes in case he didnt make it back. Hughes laid out his entire plan to the times in a video posted to the website. He took pains to explain his protest with nonviolent, not suicidal and he was not a terrorists. Terrorists dont announce their flights before they take off. Okay . Terrorists dont broadcast their threat path. Terrorists dont invite an escort to go along with them. Hughes goal was to deliver 335 letters. One to each member of congress. Urging Campaign Finance reform. He saw corruption from big money as a threat to the united states. And i will tell you completely honestly, i would rather die in the flight than live to be 80 years old and see this country fall. Hughes has been planning the flight for at least a year. He told friends about it but not his wife or his teenager daughter claiming he wanted to protect them april according to the times story a secret Service Agent questioned him about his plan last year but no known follow up. A friend of hughes claims he called the same agent back today to warn him the flight was finally happening. Hughes seemed resigned to the possibility that he could get shot down or killed on his flight today but hopeful that his small gyrocopter would not be perceived as a threat. I dont believe that the authorities are going to shoot down a 60yearold mailman in a flying bicycle. And based on that times article, hughes seems like a highly unlikely character to try this in the first place. He is 61 years old with a family steady job and no criminal record. His idea was to hijack the news cycle for a day to draw focus to an otherwise dry issue. He has been halfway successful. Reporting live, wusa 9. Very successful. Were still talking about it and the cops are calling the landing quite a scene as you can imagine. Deputy rami Stephanie Ramirez joins us now with the reaction. This comes on the heels of another serious accident that happened at the capitol over the weekend. This happened in the same area behind me here today at least interest were not as many people around. Also today though, a little bit different than witnesses tell me, other surrounding buildings like the library of congress, those buildings were not also placed on lockdown like they were over the weekend if you didnt see the helicopter or the air craft land it was more of a last feeling here, a lot of people not knowing what ba wa going on but knew something was up because they saw the news outlet out here. What is going on here . I dont know. I think they locked down. Im not really sure why. We saw a plane. It was coming by, past us while we were standing by the castle. We didnt know whether it was a danger. This is our first time here. I didnt see it. I dont know how high up they were before they landed. So but that doesnt concern me. Somebody will shoot somebody if they think it is improper. Im not sure what theyre doing. They know every email to your girlfriend but for some reason this escaped their watch. Im not sure what is going on. Now while some people may have gotten a small laugh out of this a lot of other folks say this is not okay. Well have more reaction coming up in the 6 00hour. In the meantime, the area back here or has been reopen to the public. At the capitol building, Stephanie Ramirez. They released a statement saying the pilot was not in contact with faa controllers and they did not authorize him to enter restricted air space. Violators may face civil and criminal penalties. The other big breaking story were following today, a pedestrian bridge has fallen on the metrorail a marked train crash in maryland. Youre looking at live pictures from sky9 and you can see the right side of the bridge there collapsed. Scott broom joins us live from the scene. Do we have any more information on how it . Reporter yeah, this know exactly what happened. It was a contractors crane that clipped the bridge. Doing work on the tracks, the bridge came down about 3 30 this afternoon. A big problem here on the metro tracks. You can see behind maeshgs the bridge runs between here and College Heights up at sky9 you can see the damage done here. They are building a test track here to run those new metrorail cars on. Laying down stone and ballask to secure those tracks and they used a crane to do it. It hit this thing and it came crashing down. Metro service between college park and the greenbelt station is interrupted right now. Ive talked to a lot of people about this. Starting first, 1 of the witnesses who saw this happen this afternoon. I was like, wow that is kind of crazy. God forbid there wasnt anyone underneath it. A lot of people come around and walk the train. It is construction of a test track. We launched the 7,000 series cars this is a test track that they will be tested as it arrives the contractor was in the process of dropping ballasts, the crushed rocks that support the rails at the time. A lot of us use the bridge for exercise to get over to the lake and it is going to be difficult to get over. So we have a lot of neighbors here in college park used to using this. Also dan stance sill explaining what happened here. No exact cause has been determined as to why the operator of the train may have hit the top of the bridge but it is still laying on the tracks right now as you saw from the sky9 shots. That means that Metrorail Service between college park and greenbelt station is now interrupted. Theyre using buses to get people by. Dan stancil says if youre waiting for somebody who to get home it will be a half hour, maybe an extra hour for folks to get home. Marked trains also use these lines here but that half of the railroad right away is open so the marked trains to baltimore and north into Prince Georges County are getting by right now. It will take awhile to get the tons of concrete off the tracks, theyre telling us they will have an update at 6 00 but looking like it is into overnight and perhaps into tomorrow mornings commute before they get this rail line cleared up here. A pedestrian bridge collapsing on the metro tracks in college park this afternoon after a crane hit the bridge. Reporting live in college park. Scott broom. Wusa 9. Luckily no one hurt there. 150 years. That is the sentence a montgomery judge gave to the man known as the beer pong rapists today. You sat in the courtroom while 40yearold joey poison dexter of gaith poindexter of gaithersburg learned his fate. Reporter Joey Poindexter and said absolutely nothing as the judge called him a serial sexual predator. He said absolutely nothing when he learned ef his fate that brings a sentence so long that he will spend the rest of his life and die behind bars. A vial, evil predator. Reporter a judge sentenced Joey Poindexter to 150 years behind bars for sexually assaulting five young men he befriended at beer pong tournaments across the country. Thank god did the first brave person come forward. He truly was a hero in this case. Reporter poison differenter may have continued to get away poindexter may have gotten away with it if it wasnt for this man seen in this video. Poindexter sexually assaulted him that night insid gaithersburg basement. He went to police and wore a wire. I dont have any [ bleep ] aids or anything. Reporter . He found evidence he had been at it since 2009. There are 30 files of men who were subjected to the same types of atrocities, Sexual Atrocities when they were incapacity tated and unconscious. Reporter five men in total came forward and it is those five men he will be doing time for. 25 unknown victims may never get their justice. The state had asked 200 years. They were pleased with what the judge handed. And the attorney for poindexter certainly wanted to see him do a lot less time. Again, 150 years was his sentence handed down here today. Were live here in Montgomery County courthouse. The state says they have evidence that dates back to 2009 but they also pointed out that in 2006 a man came forward and filed a Sexual Assault complaint against poindexter but dropped it. A guilty verdict tonight in the murder trial of former new england patriot star aaron hernandez. Hernandez mother and fiance stabbed as did the mother of the victim odin lloyd. I miss my baby boy odin so much. But i know ill see him some day. Minutes later the judge sentenced hernandez to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Lloyds body was found shot to death in june of 2013 in an Industrial Area less than a mile from the Football Players home. Lloyds girlfriend and hernandezs fiance are sisters. Were get wusa 9. Why it is so important to them to save this golf course at 5 30. A gorgeous look outside. The Cherry Blossoms havent fallen off the trees completely. Low 60s by 8 00 and around 60 by 9 00. Well talk about when the showers roll back in coming up. Hilary clinton means business. More on day two of her president ial campaign i am never getting married. Never. Psssssh. Guaranteed. You picked a beautiful ring. Thank you. Were never having kids. Mmmmmm. Breathe. I love it here. We are never moving to the suburbs. We are never getting one of those minivan . We are never having another kid. Im pregnant. I am never letting go. For all the nevers in life state farm is there. An arrest tonight in the vandalism in a synagogue in gaithersburg. Police slapped the handcuffs on sebastian espinoza. It was defaced with hateful messages. Espinoza coranza was spotted on Surveillance Video and police estimate the damag 1,300. This is day two of Hilary Clintons president ial campaign in iowa. The hopeful met with Small Business owners and party activists. She told them she wants to make it easier for people to start Small Businesses and reduce the debt they have to carry. As good as it is that weve dug ourselves out of the hole of the Great Recession were not up and running yet. And unfortunately the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top and we need to reshuffle the cards. Hilary clinton is focussing on more intimate gatherings right now but her aides are promising bigger things are meant to come. Chris christie is New Hampshire today. Yesterday in an interview with hughes hewitt. He says if he runs he will beat clinton. He will focus on four swing states pennsylvania, new mexico, New Hampshire and colorado. President obama won all four of those states in 2012. Threedegree guarantee and we have a few more degrees to go. We do. We dont know for sure. Im sweating this out a little bit but im pretty confident. This is where we went for today. We go for 69 today. We wont know until 11 00 tonight whether it is good or not but im feeling pretty good. We got to 68 today so at least we know it is good. Cherry blossoms havent all of a sudden fallen off the tree taechltz is still worth going to see it is still worth going to see them. I also tweeted out that youre tempted i know to plant flowers. Dont do it. Wait until mothers day if you check out my blog youll see the average frost days. Were not in the clear just yet. Look at relative humidity, 28 . That is dry air even though we have clouds it is a pretty dry air mass. Winds out of the north at 13. Partial clearing tonight. The exception would be south and west of town. Bus stop temperatures, a wee bit chilly actually. 40 to about 52. Thursday, cooler with some fading sunshine but you can keep your outdoor plans and then friday a lot of clouds couple of showers possible but again we feel you can keep your outdoor plans so we have not issued a yellow alert for thursday or friday at this jukt year. Well keep an eye juncture. Well keep an eye on it for you. A lot of clouds and temperatures in the 50s of 61 or so downtown. There will be a few breaks in the clouds, now were in the mid40s in the suburbs. Light jacket probably a good idea tomorrow morning. By 9 00, temperatures upper 50s inside the beltway 54, gaithersburg lease burg. And 55 down in la plata. Well see it return to partly sunny skies. Temperatures go back in the low 60s everywhere and 5 0 6 24 hours are now were looking at 68 downtown,seven in cull pepper and you folks orange, stay cloudy most of the day rain free but cloudy much of the day. 8 30 now we have showers working their way frup sharltsville charlottesville. Chilly, low temperatures 40 to about 50. By morning well stay mostly sunny early and chilly, 44 to 66. Clouds come back and have a mix of sun and clouds in the afternoon, eventually skies will become cloudy. A couple of showers are possible but not a huge deal. 65 to 70. You have a tee time tomorrow, go ahead and keep it. 58 in oakland 64 in cumberland. Hagerstown will be mid60s tomorrow. 66 in martins burg, winchester and 66 also in warren ton. 67 in lease burg. The day planner lees burg. The day planner,four by 11 00. Clouds and 67 by 1 oclock. Partly sunny skies. Next three days . Some showers not a huge problem. 71 and pleasant on saturday. That now is the better of the two weekend days. 75. Watch the game on nine if you cant make it to the park. Were okay on sunday. Late showers and thunderstorms possible. Better chance for showers and thunderstorms on monday. A net is back in town tuesday and wednesday of next week. Good shape tuesday. A wee bit cooler with highs in the 60 joos a dozen people are out of the homes tonight after a fire in gaithersburg. It happened at a three story Apartment Building on north summit avenue. The good news is that everyone was able to escape without serious injuries. Firefighters were able to make that happen and the red cross is helping the residents from their homes. Investigators are trying to find out what sparked a fire in southeast dc. Two people were pulled from a Burning House on 16th street this morning and one was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries. A man living nearby says he woke up to the sound of a woman scre. I walked outside they were putting the ladder up two doors down from our place where i was staying and they called in an ambulance i think and they brought out two people and i know they were doing cpr on one. Another person pulled from the house had serious injuries but is expected to survive. It was 150 years ago today that president lincoln succumbed to his injuries after being shot at fords theater. And to honor him actors and historians are taking part in activities around fords theater. He was able in four years to finally reunify the country and literally just five days after the surrender of robert e lee to ulyssys grant he is killed. They say it was a prij to remind privilege to remind people what happened in one of the countrys darkest moments. How boston is reminding those of the boston bombing. A baby food recall that parents need to know about. Google under fire. So im working from home. I get on a video conference. With my boss, and my bosss boss. But i forgot to attach the presentation it sends in a flash, good thing i have fios. I dont and it was taking forever. We dont miss a beat. Im yelling at the kids to get off wifi. Get off the movies get off the video games i think i got a promotion. I think i need a new job. Are you guys hiring. Why settle when you can have you have fiber optics with a two year price guaranteed. Fios. The fastest, most reliable internet. Stop dreaming. Its time for the volkswagen stop dreaming start driving event. Get a 1000 volkswagen credit bonus. Hurry in, during the final days of the volkswagen stop dreaming start driving event and you can get 0 apr, plus a 1,000 volkswagen credit bonus on 2015 jetta and passat models. Dont wait. Offers end april 30th. Building aircraft, the likes of which the world has never seen. This is what we do. Thats the value of performance. Northrop grumman. Bag pipes played on the streets of boston to remember those killed and injured two years ago in the Boston Marathon bombings. Marty walsh pro claimed april 15th 1 boston way three people were killed, 260 were injured in the attacks Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces the Death Penalty when he is sentenced for his role in the bombings a little later this month. Here in dc and cities in this country, minimum wage workers protested to bring the minimum wage to 15 an hour. President obama said he wants to see a 9 an hour federal minimum wage. In tonights consumer alerts stocks stand in a positive territory. The dow rose almost 76 points, the nasdaq gained about 34. After a fiveyear investigation, european regulators charged google with violating antitrust laws. They say google hurts customers by favoring their own products and services in search results. Google faces the possibility of billions in fines and injunctions that could restrict how the company does business in europe. All right parents beechnut is recalling 1,900 pounds of the sweet potato and chicken. The fourounce jars may be contaminated with small pieces of glass. Check the expiration date. If it has one of december 2015, you want to take that back to the store where you bought it for a full refund. Well tell you more on our wusa 9 app. Now to southwest airlines. It wants to give us more room when we fly coach starting next year the air carrier will roll out new boeing 737 planes. They will have adjustable headrests and wider seats and more storage space. The cop said he had to ram the suspect with his vehicle to save his life and lives of others. What the suspects attorney is saying coming up. Is it a bird, is it a plane a car and did it really