ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. (WDCW) – Two airport employees have been charged after they allegedly made an unauthorized copy of records belonging to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority a week after the deadly crash near Reagan National Airport involving a military helicopter and an American Airlines flight.
The accessed data, according to multiple reports, was a video of the mid-air collision, though authorities have not said how the video was accessed or released.
MWAA said that Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, and Jonathan Savoy, 45, both Maryland residents, have been charged with computer trespass. Mbengue was released from the Arlington County Adult Detention Center on no bail while Savoy was released on a summons by the magistrate.
The charges come after video surfaced online of the American Airlines jet and the military Blackhawk helicopter crashing into each other near DCA, sending both aircraft plummeting into the Potomac River. The Washington Post reports that CNN first obtained the footage and, when the clip aired, described it as appearing to be surveillance video from the airport.
No additional details were immediately available.
The Jan. 29 crash killed 67 people: 3 soldiers aboard the helicopter and 64 passengers and crew on the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas. As of Tuesday, authorities have recovered and identified the remains of 55 of the 67 people killed and have said they remain confident they will find all of the victims.
Crews are now working to remove what remains of the jet and the helicopter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
