Two Airport Authority workers have been arrested for leaking videos of the deadly mid-air collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River which led to the death of 67 people. The American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 was carrying 64 people while the Black Hawk helicopter was carrying three American servicemen.
Mohamed Lamine Mbengue and Jonathan Savoy who worked at the Airport Authority which manages the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were arrested for allegedly leaking surveillance videos at the airport.
The American Airlines flight was about to land at the Reagan Airport in Washington collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter after which both the aircraft fell into the Potomac River. The latest chilling video which was obtained by CNN shows another angle view of the deadly collision and the crash over the Potomac River.
The two Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority employees, Mohamed Lamine Mbengue and Jonathan Savoy, accessed the video through their roles at the airport, which gave them access to official surveillance footage. They then made unauthorized copies of the footage, violating…
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Prima facie the military helicopter has been blamed for the collision and unconfirmed reports indicate that it did not follow the altitude and direction instructions given by the control tower.
The latest leaked videos give a clearer picture of the last few moments of the ill-fated aircraft. In the video, the military helicopter can be seen darting from the left side of the screen as the American Airlines flight approached to land at the Ronald Reagan Airport. In another video, the two aircraft can be seen moving towards one another before the fatal collision.
Both the videos were shot on smartphones and the two employees have been accused of making unauthorized copies of the surveillance video records at the airport. The two employees face charges of computer trespass. Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, and Jonathan Savoy, 45, both are from Maryland.
Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, was first arrested on January 31st and has been charged with computer trespass under different sections of Virginia law. He was ordained at the Arlington County Adult Detention Center and later released. Savoy was arrested later on February 2 post further investigation he was also charged with computer trespass and later released on a summons by a magistrate. Both men made unauthorized copies of the Airport surveillance videos which later found their way into the major news channels and media outlets.
Investigations are ongoing by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Black Box from both planes have been recovered. The final cause of the deadly collision will be revealed only after the recordings of the Black Boxes are studied.
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