Two Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) employees were arrested for allegedly leaking footage of last week’s horrific mid-air aviation collision at Reagan National Airport to CNN.
As Townhall covered, an unspeakable tragedy occurred at DCA last week. An American Airlines jet coming in for landing collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday evening. Once they collided, both aircraft spiraled downward into the icy Potomac River.
All 64 airplane passengers and three soldiers in the helicopter perished. Divers have worked tirelessly to recover as many of the deceased as possible. So far, more than 40 bodies have been pulled from the frigid river.
Predictably, video footage of the horrifying accident was leaked to CNN. The outlet boasted that they’d obtained the footage. Viewers can clearly see the helicopter and the plane on a collision course from a vantage point not captured by other webcam videos of the accident. The collision, explosion, and aftermath are clearly shown in the brief footage.
According to Fox 9, Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, of Rockville, Maryland, was arrested on Jan. 31 and charged with computer trespass under Virginia law for his alleged involvement in leaking the footage.
Following further investigation, authorities also charged Jonathan Savoy, 45, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, with computer trespass on Feb. 2.
Reportedly, both men are accused of making an unauthorized copy of Airports Authority records. Officials did not specify how the footage was obtained or distributed. It is unknown at this time if the individuals sold the video or handed it over for free.
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