Two airport employees have been arrested in connection with what officials said was an unauthorized release of video of last week’s fatal plane crash over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
The footage showing the collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet was leaked to CNN, according to WTTG-TV.
Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, of Rockville, Maryland, was arrested Friday on a charge of computer trespass, according to the report.
Jonathan Savoy, 45, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was arrested Sunday. He was also charged with computer trespass.
Both are employees of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, according to USA Today.
Mbengue was released on his own recognizance from the Arlington County Adult Detention Center, according to radio station WTOP.
NEW: Two airport employees arrested for leaking the video footage of the D.C. collision last week to CNN.
67 people are deceased because people didn’t do their jobs right and they’re arresting people who shared a video?
Two Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority… pic.twitter.com/1fzSpuPimC
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 4, 2025
Savoy was released on a summons by a magistrate.
Mbengue was originally scheduled to be arraigned on the charge Monday, but the court hearing was continued.
Savoy’s court date was not known.
CNN aired the video Friday, commenting that it appeared to be “surveillance video from the airport.”
CNN’s Kate Bolduan said on the broadcast that the station had exclusively obtained two videos that provided “a more direct angle and vantage point” of the midair collision.
WTOP quoted a police statement as saying the two airport employees were “charged in connection with making an unauthorized copy of Airports Authority records.”
Computer trespass is a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia.
The crash claimed the lives of 67 people, making it the country’s deadliest crash in over 20 years, according to USA Today.
Three of the dead were aboard the Army helicopter.
The remaining 64 were aboard the jet liner, which originated in Wichita, Kansas, and was landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.
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