Recently, two employees of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority in the United States were arrested for leaking a video showing last week’s air disaster in Washington, D.C. The video depicted a military helicopter and a commercial jet colliding in mid-air.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority stated that the two employees had unauthorized copies of the video of the Washington air disaster from last Wednesday, January 29, and provided these copies to the Cable News Network (CNN).
On January 31, a 21-year-old man from Rockville, Maryland, named Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, was arrested on a charge of unauthorized computer access, which is a misdemeanor. According to a spokesperson for the airport authority, he was detained at the Arlington County Adult Detention Center but was later released on his own recognizance.
Following further investigation, on February 2, Jonathan Savoy, a 45-year-old man from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was also charged with unauthorized computer access. Savoy was released after being summoned by a local magistrate.
Both individuals were charged with unauthorized duplication of records from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, though officials did not clarify how these individuals obtained and disseminated the video recording.
The leaked video, broadcasted by the Cable News Network, captured the moment when a U.S. military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided mid-air with an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 jet during a night training mission.
Both aircraft subsequently crashed into the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, resulting in the tragic deaths of all 67 individuals onboard both the commercial and military aircraft, including three U.S. Army soldiers on the helicopter.
As of this Tuesday, authorities are still working to confirm the identities of all the victims and to clear the wreckage from the Potomac River.