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Two airport authority workers arrested for allegedly leaking DC plane crash video to CNN

Two airport authority workers have been arrested for allegedly leaking footage of the deadly American Airlines and Black Hawk helicopter collision to CNN.

Two employees of the authority that manages Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were arrested over their alleged involvement in leaking surveillance footage of the deadly American Airlines flight and Army Black Hawk helicopter collision to CNN.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) staffers are accused of making an unauthorised copy of records and are facing charges of computer trespass, the agency said Monday.

Sixty-seven people were killed when the American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday. Picture: CNN
Sixty-seven people were killed when the American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday. Picture: CNN
The Wednesday night collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet killed all 67 people on both aircraft. Picture: US Coast Guard Headquarters
The Wednesday night collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet killed all 67 people on both aircraft. Picture: US Coast Guard Headquarters

The legal trouble is tied to the chilling video obtained by CNN last week that offered a horrifying new vantage point to crash over the Potomac River, ABC News reported.

The Wednesday night collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet killed all 67 people on both aircraft.

The two aircraft crashed Wednesday evening as the airliner was on final approach to Reagan National Airport. Picture: Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/U S Coast Guard/UPI/Shutterstock
The two aircraft crashed Wednesday evening as the airliner was on final approach to Reagan National Airport. Picture: Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/U S Coast Guard/UPI/Shutterstock

The exclusive videos gave a closer and clearer look at the air disaster, including one clip in which the chopper is darting from the left side of the screen as the American Airlines flight approached the airport.

A second short clip shows the Black Hawk, which was carrying three soldiers, and the Bombardier CRJ700 steaming toward each other before the two smash into each other and explode.

Both videos were shot on cell phones, CNN reported Friday.

The CNN video offered a closer look at the horrifying collision. Picture: CNN
The CNN video offered a closer look at the horrifying collision. Picture: CNN
A crane retrieves part of the wreckage from the Potomac River on Monday in the aftermath of the collision. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP
A crane retrieves part of the wreckage from the Potomac River on Monday in the aftermath of the collision. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP

Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, of Rockville Maryland was charged Friday and Jonathan Savoy, 45, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was charged Sunday, the MWAA said in an email.

Mbengue was booked into Arlington County Adult Detention Center and later released while Savoy was issued a summons by the magistrate and cut loose.

The airport authority did not divulge further details Monday night.

The authority was created by Congress more than 30 years ago and is tasked, in part, with operating Reagan National and Dulles International airports.

Officials began pulling the wreckage of the doomed American Airline flight Monday as most victims’ bodies have been recovered from the icy river.

After parts from the plane are taken to shore, the Black Hawk chopper will then be recovered. The military helicopter was carrying Army Capt. Rebecca Lobach, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves and Staff Sgt. Ryan O’Hara while the commercial flight was bringing home more than a dozen people connected to the tight-knit figure skating world.

Questions remain over how the midair crash could have happened with an investigation by a federal agency ongoing.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/two-airport-authority-workers-arrested-for-allegedly-leaking-dc-plane-crash-video-to-cnn/news-story/88aeff45cea9d8a1bbe05c4be7a651a8