Two Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority employees have been arrested over leaked surveillance video of a mid-air collision involving an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter, which left no survivors.
The suspects, identified Mohamed Lamine Mbengue and Jonathan Savoy, are accused of making an unauthorized copy of the crash footage, showing the exact moment a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter slammed into a Bombardier CRJ-700 passenger jet near Washington’s Reagan National Airport, USA Today reported. It was seemingly one of two clips aired by CNN on Friday, purporting to show new angles of the tragedy, though it is unclear how the station came into possession of the footage.
While introducing the segment, Anchor Kate Bolduan said the video “appears to be surveillance video from the airport,” but she did not offer additional details.
Mbengue, 21, of Rockville, Maryland, was arrested on Friday while Savoy, 45, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was taken into custody on Sunday. They have both been charged with computer trespass, according to Fox 5.
Investigators on Tuesday were still working days later to understand what exactly caused the crash over the Potomac River, some three miles south of the White House and U.S. Capitol. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the American Airlines plane was preparing to land when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter, sending both aircrafts into the Potomac River on Wednesday just after 9 p.m.
In total, 67 people died in the crash, among them all three soldiers aboard the Army chopper, who were, at the time, carrying out a secretive training mission. Officials have said they were learning how to evacuate members of the government to a safe location in the event of a national crisis or attack.
They have since been identified as Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, the crew chief; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, a pilot and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach.
Everyone on the American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 jet, in total 60 passengers and four crew members, also perished in the crash. The victims include more than a dozen figure skaters, many of them just in their teens.
As of Monday, crews have so far recovered the remains of 55 people. The plane’s engine and large pieces of fuselage have also since been pulled from the Potomac.
With News Wire Services
