2 US airport employees arrested for leaking midair collision footage to media
Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, Jonathan Savoy, 45, arrested for 'making an unauthorized copy of Airports Authority records'
A view of the scene after a regional plane collided in midair with a military helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. United States on January 30, 2025.
WASHINGTON
Two Ronald Reagan National Airport employees have been taken into custody on allegations that they made an unauthorized copy of a video of last week's deadly midair collision between a military helicopter and a passenger jet outside of the nation's capital, and sent it to the media.
Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, and Jonathan Savoy, 45, were arrested for "making an unauthorized copy of Airports Authority records," the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said Monday, according to multiple reports.
Mbengue, from Rockville, Maryland, was arrested Jan. 31 and charged with computer trespass in the state of Virginia, according to the local Fox television affiliate channel. Savoy was taken into custody Feb. 2, but was released on summons by a magistrate judge.
The video, which multiple reports said aired on CNN, captured the moments when the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter on a night training mission crashed with American Airlines Flight 543 as the plane prepared to land at the airport.
In all, 67 people were killed, including three on the helicopter and 64 on the jet. Recovery efforts are ongoing.
